Two more steps
by Metope
Summary: Two more steps. It would only take two more steps. Two more steps to forgetting everything, to starting over…two more steps to be…..free… But crossing the border didn't only mean she'd loose her memory. She knew that's what Charming and the rest of the people of Storybrooke thought, but that wasn't the only effect... A Regina-centered story.
1. Prologue

**Hi there, this is my first fanfiction, so reviews are very very welcome because I have honestly know idea what I'm doing xD. I'm a non-native speaker of English (as you'll probably will find out soon enough by reading this first chapter I'm afraid), so I am sorry if parts are poorly written due to grammar mistakes. **

**Prologue**

**Just come and get her**

Two more steps. It would only take two more steps. Two more steps to forgetting everything, to starting over…two more steps to be…..free…

But crossing the border didn't only mean she'd loose her memory. She knew that's what Charming and the rest of the people of Storybrooke thought, but that  
wasn't the only effect. Crossing the border would also turn you to your true self, that is, it would turn you back to the time in your life where you were still innocent and honest. They don't know it because Sneezy hadn't changed when he crossed the border. Probably because those dwarfs were so incredibly honest and good, they hadn't been corrupted at all through their lives. There simply wasn't anything to change about Sneezy since his innocence had never been taken away in the first place. She pursed her lips, stupid dwarfs.

However, she didn't know what this particular aspect of the border enchantment would mean for her, maybe it would leave her as a three your old, or worse, as a baby, regarding that corrupting her had in fact already begun before she was even old enough to talk yet. But actually, she couldn't care less, as long as she wouldn't remember anything of this life, of all the misery she felt and went through. She was fine with it, regardless what would happen to her.

She would do this, and if she would do this, she would do it right, so she grabbed her cell phone and dialed the number of the closest police station, apart from the one of Storybrooke, of course. Once she would have crossed the border she wouldn't remember anything, so she had to make sure someone from outside of Storybrooke would take care of her before the citizens of Storybrooke would send out Sneezy or something to come and get her.

"Hi, police station, how can I help you?" a low male voice said.

"Hello, I called to inform you that there is a…_what would she call herself, she didn't know after all what she would turn into once she'd crossed… _a.. person near the border of the town of Storybrooke on the road who's really confused and doesn't know where or who she is. I thought I should call you to make sure you'd help her and take care of her." Regina finally said in her nicest voice.

"Well why don't you call the sheriff's station of Storybrooke, they'll be there faster after all?" the police men replied.

"I can't ", Regina lied, "they're..occupied with certain..matters at the moment that prevent them from coming here…"  
she felt she was losing her patience, they should just come over or someone would find out she was missing and come after her.  
"…look officer,"-the nice voice she used first was gone now, she didn't really care though- "it's really not that difficult. If I wouldn't be in such a hurry I would take care of the girl myself, but unfortunately I can't. Just make sure you get over here to help the girl so nothing bad will happen to her. After all, if there does happen something with the girl, you would be responsible for it, and you wouldn't want that, now would you?"

There was a short silence on the other end of the phone, but eventually the officer started talking again. "Yes, okay, we'll send a wagon."

"Good." Regina replied, and before the officer could ask her for her name she hung up. Now the only thing she'd have to do was take those two steps and leave everything behind, including Henry. Henry. When she thought of him she immediately felt tears pressing behind her eyes. She had let him go to David, she should have never done that, he hadn't come back for her as she thought he would. Especially after what happened with Daniël she had expected him to come to her, even if it would only be to ask her who Daniël was. But nothing of all that happened, he just really hated her, she thought.

And that thought was enough. She wanted to forget everything and to disappear, it would be better for everyone, and with that she started walking. One….Two….and then everything went black.

**Let me know what you think of this ;)! I will add the first chapter this weekend (if I can get to it) anyways, but after that it will largely depend on you all whether the story will continue or not :)! xx**


	2. Chapter 1

**Wow thank you all for the reviews! As a reward here's another chapter. Unfortunately there is no actual Regina in this one. I'm sorry! But I have to set the basic storylines up first before we can focus on Regina again. It may take two or three more chapters (depending on how long I'll make them ;) ) before we get back to her. But once we get there, (and you still like reading the story) I promise, there will be enough Regina for everyone ^^.**

** 3DayRisen** **thank you for your feedback! I know I should elaborate more. It turns out to be harder than I thought though to do so. I know what I want to say, but I can't find the right English word to tell them, and then I get a sort of black out and don't know the words in my own language anymore either xD But I tried to elaborate more this chapter..maybe I'll improve gradually :D?**

Magicbones Thank youJ! I will continue this J! 

**She's gone  
**  
"Hi Gramps, since you're actually on time to pick me up from school!" Henry ran to David with a big smile and gave him a hug. David laughed. "I guess I'm slowly learning then am I?" Henry laughed. "So, did you find anything new about how to get my mom and Mary Margaret back? Have the dwarfs found any fairy dust yet? Did you get the hat working?"

"Wow, Henry, slow down. One question at a time please." David said, although it wouldn't be very hard to answer those questions with only one answer.  
"I'm sorry," Henry said, " but, did you?" David saw the hope in the boy's eyes, and hated to have to disappoint him.

"No kid, I'm sorry, there hasn't been any progress so far. I haven't had much time to search yet with Whale adding some extra drama to deal with in all this mess." Being Sheriff didn't turn out to be an easy job in a town where everyone suddenly turned out to have two identities. Everyone had automatically turned to David for guidance, and he was happy to give it to them, but at some times it was difficult to do so and to help everyone the best he could. For example when a crazy doctor thought it would be a good idea to revive people from the dead.

"Oh. Okay. Yes I understand." Henry said quietly, his head held down.

Not knowing what to do David started walking toward the car. "Come,' he said, "I'll take you home so you can do your homework, and after that we'll do something fun. Okay?" David hoped this would cheer his grandson up a bit. The whole parenting thing was knew for him and he couldn't help but feel he wasn't all that good at it.

"Uh..okay, that's fine." Henry said but he didn't sound excited at all. The drive to Snow's apartment was silent, Henry staring out of the window and David desperately thinking of something to cheer the boy up. They still didn't say anything to each other while they were walking up to the apartment.

Inside Henry put his bag on the table and went to sit on the couch. David saw something was clearly bothering the boy, other than the fact that his grandmother and mother where magically disappeared through a portal. David saw something else was on his mind now too.

"Henry, you know that you can tell me and ask me anything right? You can come to me any time." David said to reassure his grandson.

Henry looked up from the couch. "Well, can I…I wanted you to ask if….I want to go see my mom." He finally said.

"O, okay. Yes that's alright." David reacted. Although he wasn't too pleased and actually wanted to keep his grandson as far away from that witch as possible, he knew it wasn't the right thing to do. After all, she was his mother, maybe not biologically, but she she had raised him for 10, and she'd said she wanted to redeem herself. So a visit shouldn't do much damage, he thought. "You miss her?"

"No…yes…I mean..I do, but I also want to know about that man in the stables."

"I could tell you about who he was too?" David said. "I didn't up until now because you didn't ask, so I thought you didn't want to know, but I can tell you now if you want me to?"

"No, I mean, I do want to know, but..not from you. I want to know what happened from my mom." Henry said, and he looked up to his grandfather to see if he hadn't hurt David's feelings. But David understood perfectly fine. Henry was a clever boy and there was no doubt he had noticed his mother's reaction when she saw Daniel again, before David had made him leave.

"Ok, that's alright. You want to go right away?"

The boy's face lit up by David's words. "Yes please!" He said as he stood up from the couch and ran to the door.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

When David and Henry arrived at the mansion the place seemed empty and deserted. Henry walked quickly toward the door and rang the bell. No one answered. He rang again, and again, and again. But Regina didn't open the door. "Wait here" David said as he walked around the house to find a window to look through.

Unfortunately all the curtains were closed, so David couldn't look inside. "Regina? Are you home?" David shouted, hoping his voice would carry far enough to be heard from inside the house.

"David? Do you think something is wrong? Maybe she had an accident and is hurt? Because, she must be in there, right? She wouldn't leave the house, she can't, right?" Henry said with a little voice.

David looked at the boy, he was right. Regina wouldn't leave the house. Now Emma and Snow were away there wouldn't be anyone to protect her from the angry mob that was still out there, except for him, and he obviously couldn't be with her all the time. He didn't want to either.

"I know son. I guess we'll have to let us in ourselves to find out what's going on." David said firm. "Do you know where Regina keeps a spare key? There must be one around here somewhere?"

"Yes I know!" the boy smiled and ran back to the front of the house. "Mom said people would probably never search under the door mat for a spare key, because it's too obvious. So she put it exactly there."

David laughed and opened the door with the key Henry handed to him. Inside it felt cold, it looked like there hadn't been anyone living in the house for days. But then again, it always did because Regina kept the house so incredibly neat. Henry walked to the living room, here too everything was dark. "Mom? Are you here? It's Henry! I came to see you.." His voice trailed off as there was no response to his shouting.

"Regina! Henry has come to see you! Where are you? Are you upstairs? Can you please come down?" David started walking up the stairs, while there was still no response from Regina whatsoever.

Henry walked further into the living room towards one of the windows and opened the curtains. He stared out of it watching his mother's apple tree standing proud in the middle of the back yard. Then it suddenly struck him that he hadn't seen his mother's car standing on the drive when they had entered the house. Why hadn't he noticed that in the first place, he slightly started to panic. He ran to David who was just heading to Regina's bedroom, still searching for her.  
"She's gone!" he screamed. "She's gone, her car is gone, she isn't here! She's in danger; they're going to kill her! David we have to do something!"  
David turned to see an utterly frightened and upset little boy staring up to him with big eyes filled with tears.  
"Don't worry Henry. We'll just go look for her outside. She may have gone to Gold's shop for example." David said and he tried to smile reassuring. It was either that or…. No she wouldn't have, would she? Crossing the border would mean she would forget everything about her life in Storybrooke. She'd forget about Henry, she would forget about Snow, about Gold, about the curse and she would forget about Daniel… And that was when it hit David. He suddenly was pretty sure the witch had decided to cross the border. The look she had had on her face when he had tried to shot Daniel, the pain that was in her eyes. He had seen it, he knew that pain, it was an unbearable pain. A pain you would do anything for to get rid of… even cross a border that would make you forget everything…

Quickly he went down the stairs again, Henry following him closely. He turned around and grabbed Henry's shoulders while he looked down into the boys eyes.  
"Henry. I'm going to bring you to Ruby now and you have to wait with her for me to come back. I think I know where your mother might have gone."

Henry looked up to David, fear in his eyes. "You think she went to cross the border, don't you?" he said.

David sighed; lying to the kid was no option. "I really hope I'm wrong Henry, I really do."

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

When David arrived at the border he immediately knew his presumptions had been right. He saw the former mayor's old Mercedes on the side of the road, with the witch herself nowhere to be found. He was too late. He walked as closely to the border as he dared to go, looking for any sign of the woman. Any sign at all that would proof she hadn't gone over the line Grumpy had drawn. A sign that would proof she had backed out at last and now was hiding from him somewhere in the woods.

"Regina?" he called out. "Are you around here somewhere?"

No one answered. David went from the road into the woods, searching and looking behind every tree and bush hoping to find the woman somewhere, but without any success.

After an hour, when it already started to get dark he gave up. "Regina! I could kill you right now for having done this! How could you have left Henry like this! This is no redemption at all!" He screamed…angry…at no one. Because there was no one there. She was really gone…

**So, this was quite a long chapter with, as I said, Regina herself not in it.. ********I hope you still liked it, and please review. It really helps me to get better at writing !  
I'll try to update as soon as possible ^^**

**-x-**


	3. Chapter 2

**So what do I do now?**

Henry was already asleep when David arrived at Grannies, Ruby was sitting in one of the booths with Henry sleeping next to her, his head resting on Ruby's lap. Ruby's face lit up when she saw David come in.

"O great, you're back. Because I'm sitting like this for half an hour now and I really, really _really_ want to get up." She said with a soft voice to not wake up Henry. Ruby loved the boy, he was a sweet kid, but sitting here like this didn't really belong to her comfort zone.

David walked to Ruby and smiled when he saw his grandson sleeping so peacefully, but the feeling passed as soon as he thought again about what he had to ask Ruby.

"Ruby, I have to ask you one more favor to do for me." He started.

"O yes, did you find Regina? Was she at Gold's or something?" Ruby asked.

"No, no she wasn't. She..I think she's really crossed the border." David said, watching Ruby's face to see how she would react on this news.

Disbelieve showed on her face. "No way. This must be some kind of trick of hers. She wouldn't do that." Ruby said.

"As much as I want to believe that, that doesn't explain the fact why I found her car near the town sign." David said. "But you're right, it sounds not at all like Regina to just give up, to leave Henry alone. And that's why I wanted to ask you if you could help me look for her one more time..since you can track people down so easily."

"Hm, I don't know David. I mean if you saw her car standing there she might have indeed crossed the border. And if not..maybe she's just gone in general, and will never come back. I don't really feel like finding her if that would mean she would be back again ruining our lives." Ruby said.

"Ruby, you can't mean that!" David said, raising his voice.

"Sshh, you'll wake Henry with your loud voice like this. But fine, if you want to find her that bad I'll go search for her. But you'll have to stay here with Henry while I'm away." Ruby gave in.

"Thanks Red. And believe me, I would love to see Regina gone just as much as you do. But we simply can't give up searching for Regina for Henry. And what if she IS planning something like you said, then it's even more important we find her." David said as he took Ruby's place in the booth while making sure Henry wouldn't wake up. "I think it's better to let him sleep here. He's having some nightmares lately so he doesn't sleep to well."

"Well up until now it seems he's doing just fine, so letting him sleep now might indeed be best."Ruby said. "Well I'll be gone then. What should I do when I find her?"

"Just bring her here." David said. Ruby nodded and left the diner.

David sighed, he really hoped he was wrong and that Ruby would find Regina. Because if she couldn't, no one could.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

David awoke from a light sleep by a loud scream. He opened his eyes and saw Henry sitting next to him, his eyes wide and full with fear.

"Henry, it's okay. It was just a nightmare. I'm here now, don't worry." David said as he touched the boy's shoulder and squeezed in it softly to reassure him. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 06:30 AM. and Ruby hadn't returned yet, meaning she has been out all night. David hoped that was because Regina was too stubborn to come with Ruby and not because she couldn't find Regina.

"No. This wasn't a dream. I saw someone in that room. A woman. She started talking to me." Henry said.

"What do you mean Henry?" David asked confused. "A woman? Who was it, what did she say to you?"

"She said…she said that Mary Margaret and Emma are coming home. That she has helped them find a portal."

"Henry that's great! I knew they would find a way to get back home!" David said happy. "But why is it you woke up with a scream then?"  
"That's because she said we had to hurry. She said we are all in danger because Captain Hook and…my mom's mother are trying to come through the portal too. She said they would do anything to get here, anything, including killing Emma and Mary Margaret." Henry looked up to David.

"Did she say where the portal is Henry?"

"No, that's the point. Just as she tried to tell me something happened and she got pulled out of the room. The fire went wild and I burnt my hand in there." Henry said and he lifted his hand. Up until now he hadn't really felt the pain of the burn because of the information he'd just received. But talking about it made him suddenly aware of the stinging pain in his hand.

David was shocked by the sight of the boy's hand. A deep red nasty looking burn was on the side of it. David sighed.

"Okay. What we're going to do is this. First I'm going to ask Granny to take you with her to the hospital to take care of that. Then I'm going to try to find Ruby and that portal." David said and he stood up waiting for Henry to follow him. But the boy didn't start moving.

"No wait" he said instead. "first I want to know, did you find my mother yet?"

"Not yet Henry, but Ruby has been out searching for her all night. I'm sure she has found Regina by now and that they've just decided to stay wherever they are because it was night already." David smiled but it wasn't convincing. "Now come, let's find Granny and then we'll go find that portal."

Just as David wanted to open the door, it opened already letting a bewildered Ruby into the diner. "David! You have to come with me, quick!" and as she said that she turned to leave the diner again expecting David to follow.

"Ruby wait! What is it? Did you find Regina? Because if not, can it wait? I have to find Granny so she can take Henry to the hospital."

"No there is no time for that! You have to come with me. And…I guess Henry will have to come too since we can't leave him here alone, that's too dangerous."

David didn't understand anything of what the brunette was talking about, but he hadn't seen her this upset often. When she was like this, something really must be wrong, so he decided to follow her and trust her judgment.

"Okay come on Henry." He said as he walked to the car, Ruby impatiently waiting for them all to get in.

"Okay Ruby, tell me where to drive and in the mean time explain to me what is so urgent." David said as he started his car.

"We have to go to Regina's house." Ruby said. "and we're in such a hurry because Snow and Emma are back, but they're in great danger."

"The portal!" Henry exclaimed. "They've come through the portal and Regina's mother and Captain Hook followed them. That's it right?"

"Yes…" Ruby said confused, not understanding how Henry could know that. "I was just on my way home because I couldn't find Regina when suddenly I saw a purple light coming from Regina's house. I thought that maybe it was Regina doing something evil so I went closer to find out. But instead of Regina I saw a big purple whirlpool in the front yard, and then Emma and Snow falling through it.

But just as I wanted to run to them, a woman came through the portal as well. I didn't see this Captain Hook you were talking about though." Ruby said as she turned to Henry who was sitting in the back. "The woman has magic, and she used it on Snow and Emma and I knew immediately that it wasn't to help them heal the injuries they had from falling through the portal. I, I didn't know what to do at first, I wanted to go and help them, but it was getting light and I felt I was going to turn back soon. So I decided to come and get you." Ruby ended the story.

Just as David opened his mouth to respond the three heard a loud explosion coming from the former mayor's house. "Oh David! To hell with that speed limit! Just make sure we get there in time!" Ruby exclaimed now and David nodded pressing the pressing the accelerator fully.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

As soon as they arrived at the house Henry and David saw Ruby was right. Snow and Emma _were_ in danger. An older woman was holding up a hand. The purple magic surround it was probably the reason why Emma and Snow were both hovering in the air with leather ties bound around them.

Before David could do anything Henry had gotten out of the car and ran to his mother and grandmother. "Leave them alone! Leave my mom and grandmother alone!" He screamed. He ran further but was suddenly lifted up in the air at the same moment that the woman had turned to him to see who was screaming to her.

"Ah, you must be the boy my daughter plays family with." She said, her voice sounded sweet although Henry could hear it wasn't genuine.

"Cora! Leave Henry out of this! Your fight is with us, not with him!" Snow screamed, still hanging in the air.

Cora's eyes flickered and she looked at Snow with eyes full of anger. Immediately the ties that were holding her tightened around her, leaving her almost no room to breathe.

"Snow!" David cried as he and Ruby now came running to the house as well.

"David! Stay there! Just make sure Henry is okay and leave!" Emma screamed now, causing her to get the same punishment from Cora as Snow.

"Noo! Emma!" Henry cried, tears falling from his eyes. "Let them go! Let them go!"

"O but sweet boy, sweet..Henry. I will let them go. After all I wouldn't want you to see your family being hurt like that." Cora said. "It's just, I need you to do me one favor."

"I'll do it! Tell me what it is and I'll do it as long as you leave Emma and Snow alone after that." The boy said crying.

"Henry no! Don't say that! You don't know what she'll ask of you!" David screamed.

"O don't worry Charming. The only thing I want from the boy is to tell me where I can find my daughter. It's been too long that I have seen her. We really need to….catch up."

Henry's eyes widened. He only knew this woman for like five minutes, but he could tell already this woman was far worse than anything he had read about the Evil Queen. His mother. He didn't want to betray his mother, and he didn't have to, because after all, his mom had gone missing. But now he didn't know how to free Emma and Mary Margaret either.

Just as Henry opened his mouth to tell Cora he didn't know where Regina was he got interrupted by someone else starting to speak to her.

"Cora, that's no way to greet your grandson, now is it? I suggest you lower the boy down back to the ground, and free his mother and grandmother too. Your fight is with Regina and you might think maybe with me too, although it's not, I can assure you. But certainly not with the boy. It wouldn't be fair to let the boy choose who he has to save and who to betray now would it? Choosing between saving his biological mother and therefore betraying the woman that raised him for 10 years, or the other way around? Even I wouldn't be so cruel."

Cora turned around to look who was talking to her and saw, just as she thought, Rumpelstiltskin walking to her.

"Rumpelstiltskin!" she hissed and she tried to throw a fire ball at him, with no use. The pawnbroker merely had to wave his hand and the ball had gone up into thin air.

"Now, _that_ wasn't a very smart thing to do, dearie." With a flick of his wrist Gold freed Henry, Snow and Emma from their awkward situation and he started to form a spell to hurt Cora.

That was the moment, however, David chose to step in, preventing this mess from escalating any more.

"Now stop it! Just stop it! All of you!" All heads immediately turned his way. Both Gold and Cora looking irritated to the man who dared to interrupt in their battle.

"It's really very simple. You're fighting over nothing." David said.

"What do you mean, peasant?"Cora said, almost spitting the last word out.

"You're fighting over finding Regina, but the thing is. You won't be able to find her since she isn't here anymore."

"Regina died?" Emma asked and her eyes grew wide.

"No, no, she didn't die." David said. "or at least, I think she didn't I don't really know. No, you won't be able to find her because she's crossed the border. She's left Storybrooke."

Henry started crying again when he heard this and Ruby lowered her head and Gold let out a sigh of disbelieve. However the four other adults were still staring at him confused. "So what? I guess that only means I'll leave you here and go find my daughter in another town?"

"You could do that, but I'm afraid it would get you nowhere." David said. "In the absence of Snow and Emma we've found out that whoever crosses the border of Storybrooke loses the memories of his fairytale identity. They only remember their lives in Storybrooke."

"But I never had a Storybrooke identity my dear boy." Cora said with a fake smile.

"Meaning, dearie, that you will end up with the worst case of amnesia ever." Gold said. "You wouldn't be able to proceed your little quest because once you've crossed the border you'll have no idea of who you are, where you are or what you were doing."

"And you're sure Regina crossed the border?" Snow asked. She didn't know what to feel. On one hand she felt joy, Regina gone would mean she could finally start living in peace with her family. After Cora had been taking care of, that was. But as she looked at the pained expression on Henry's face, how the boy couldn't stop the tears falling from his eyes, she immediately felt bad about her previous thoughts.

"David found her car near the town sign, and I have searched for Regina the entire night, but without any outcome. So, I think we can be pretty sure that she has left town." Ruby now said.

"Well that's just great." Cora said. "Then what am I supposed to do now?"

"Getting the hell out of here would be start."Emma growled, but before anyone could do anything Cora disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, leaving the others behind.

**I decided to not let Hook, Aurora or Mulan come with Emma and Snow through the portal. That because this story is Regina centered after all (with the first two chapters having a complete lack of Regina..I know..I'm sorry :P) and Mulan and Aurora don't really have something to do with Regina in my opinion. As for Hook, it was just easier this way, maybe I'll bring him in later on in the story. That is…if there will be a later on..please review to let me know what you think so I know if it's worth continuing this ^^!**

**I don't know when I'll update again. It will be this week, but it depends on how much homework I get done tomorrow O:).**


	4. Chapter 3

**I'm so sorry you all had to wait so long for this chapter! School is very demanding at the moment….. I didn't read it again after I finished it because it's 23:17 and I'm tired like hell. ****I´ll do it tomorrow though, but I just wanted to put this up already. **

**We need to work together  
**

"Hey, how was school?"

"Hey mom, school was….school." Emma watched her 14 year old son stumbling up the stairs to his room in that typical way only teenagers can. Henry had really changed in the past few months. His voice had lowered a bit, his legs and arms seemed to be slightly out of proportion compared to the rest of his body. And although he didn't want to admit it, Snow told Emma the other day it wouldn't be long before David should teach him how to shave (Although Emma didn't really think Henry would need or even _want_ the humiliation David showing him something that couldn't be all that hard). Emma smiled, he really was a wonderful boy and actually not that different from the ten year old boy she first met that night back in Boston. He still had that same determination for what he believed in, and still had the same ideals as the boy that once dreamt that all he was reading in that storybook of his was real, only to find out it was.

Today however, Henry wasn't totally that boy he was on other days, today he was downcast and sad and Emma knew she couldn't really do anything about it, except for leave him be this day.

It had been 4 years since Regina had disappeared and she and Snow had gotten back to Storybrooke, along with Cora.

_As soon as the purple smoke cleared David ran to Snow and embraced her with his strong arms. _

"_David.." was the only thing Snow could bring herself to say. "You found me." And she kissed him._

"_Did you ever doubt I wouldn't?" David asked smiling and he kissed her again._

_Emma ran to Henry. "Mom! You're back, I've missed you so much!" Henry said as he gave her the biggest and longest hug he could give, tears still in his eyes. "I love you mom."_

"_I love you too Henry." Was all Emma could say, to overwhelmed by the emotions of happiness that fled through her._

"_Well that wasn't very clever of you David, now was it?" Gold said when he thought the family had had enough time for their, to his taste way to sweet, family reunion._

_"What do you mean Gold?" Ruby asked._

_"I mean that Cora is gone now, dearie. God knows where she might be and what she might be planning. Wouldn't it have been a better idea to just tell her Regina had left Storybrooke and let her cross the border as well? All are problems would have been solved at once. Now, however, we have to deal with her ourselves."_

_"I..I didn't think of it like that. I just wanted to save Emma, Snow and Henry. Their lives were my first priority and this way I knew for sure she would let them go." David stammered._

"_And with all due respect, Mister Gold, "Emma said angrily, "but this isn't David's fault entirely. I recall a certain someone explaining to her that she would forget everything, when she still thought she wouldn't be harmed by the curse because she doesn't have a second identity."  
_

_Ruby tried to repress a smile in which she only succeeded after Gold gave her a dead glare._

_He opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted by Snow._

"_It doesn't matter whose fault it is. What's done is done. What I want to know is, what do we do now?" _

"_I suggest we go search for Cora?" Emma said._

"_No, we aren't going to do anything." Gold said. _

"_Why not?"_

"_Because you'll get in the way. You see, despite what people think, Cora doesn't harm people just for fun. It's only when you get in her way she'll become your worst nightmare. Right now, nor David, Snow, Ruby, Henry or you, have anything to do with her finding Regina. So it's better to keep it that way. If you'd go and try to find her now, she would probably kill you all."_

"_And what makes you think she won't kill you?" Emma asked, still not totally convinced._

"_I am the Dark One, dearie. No one can kill me. I can handle Cora perfectly fine._"

"_What about Belle?" Ruby asked. "If Cora finds out you love her, she'll probably go after Belle to get to you."_

"_Well then she better not find out about Belle, am I right?"Rumpelstiltskin said._

"_Why are you doing this Rumpelstiltskin?" David finally asked. "Why are you helping us?"_

_Gold stared at David for a while and then looked at Henry who was leaning closely against Emma, his arm around her waist and her arm resting on his shoulder. "I'm helping you, because young Henry here has lost enough of the people he loves today. There's no need for him to lose his grandparents and mother at the same day too."_

_Henry hid his face in Emma's jacket, not wanting them to see him starting to cry again and Emma pulled him closer to her. "It's gonna be okay, kid. I promise. We'll figure something out." she tried to sound reassuring, but felt she didn't succeed by far. "Thank you Gold. I guess we'll go home then." _

_Snow smiled and nodded. "Although, what is home?" She asked, "My home, is that going to fit with us four?" _

"_Well, if Henry will sleep in the same bed as Emma, think we'll manage for now." David said. _

_Henry nodded and started to walk to David's car. "Can we go now? I just want to go home." he said._

_Emma looked worried to Snow, she didn't know what to do. Snow took Emma's hand and squeezed it softly. "He'll come around." she said. "He just learned his mother disappeared and probably won't come back. You can't expect him to process all that information in one morning and act normal afterwards." _

"_I know. But it's just…It's killing me to see him like this."_

Emma sighed. Snow was right, of course. Henry did come around eventually, but it took almost a year before he was the happy smart optimistic boy he had been. And every year, on the day she had disappeared he would be this sad downcast broken boy again. Proving that he still missed Regina with whole his heart, and there was nothing she could do about it. As much as she wanted to take the pain away, let him forget about that day.

Gold had returned to Snow's apartment that same day. Emma's mouth fell when she had opened the door. Not only Gold was standing there, he was standing there together with Cora.

"_Don't worry Miss Swann. We come in peace." Gold said as he let himself and Cora passed Emma in to the apartment. "What is the meaning of all this Rumpel!?"David immediately asked, standing up from the couch he and Snow sat on._

"_I think Cora here can explain this best herself." _

"_I…I come to strike a deal." Cora said, her head held high but she didn't seem as menacing as she had done earlier that day._

"_Well then you're at the wrong address, Lady. Gold is the one to strike deals with around here." Emma said as she closed the door._

"_Let her speak Emma." Snow said. She saw something in Cora's eyes that she hadn't seen before. It was a sense of regret, a sense of genuine sadness. Snow didn't know exactly what it meant, but she did now that what Cora was about to say would be the truth._

"_Look. Miss Swan." The way Cora said this sent shivers down Emma's spine, suddenly believing Cora and Regina were family wasn't so hard anymore. "I'm feeling just as uncomfortable about this as you all, but the thing is, we need each other."_

"_O is that so?" David asked, "and why is it you would think that?"_

"_That is, peasant, because, in the end, we both want the same thing."_

"_Cora, you really have to be more specific, because I really don't see how we wanting to get back to our land and you wanting to destroy Regina's life are the same thing." Snow said._

"_Well maybe you should let the woman speak for more than two seconds before you interrupt her then." Gold said._

"_First of all, I don't want to destroy Regina. I want to help her. She needs me." Cora said raising an eyebrow as Snow let out a sigh of disbelieve behind her hand._

"_and second of all…"Cora went on, "in order to get back to your land, you will need the help of Rumpelstiltskin here. After all, it is he, who has created the curse, who has wanted the curse to be enacted. And it's also he who wanted the curse to be broken, so he could finally do what he's come here for. However, poor old Rumpel, didn't expect breaking the curse wouldn't lift the border spell." Gold eyes flickered angrily when she humiliated him by speaking of him like that. "Yes, I'll take it from here." He said in order to prevent any more belittling from Cora. "As Cora said, you'll need me to get back to our land. With Regina gone, me and Cora are the only ones with enough magic and knowledge to get you all back."_

"_Well, why don't you then?" Emma asked._

"_Because, dearie, I don't __want__ to get back. Not yet. There are some things I first need to take care of. Unfortunately those things are located outside of Storybrooke. And that's where our path crosses yours. Cora needs the border down in order to find Regina, I need it gone for my reasons, and you all want to border down so I'll get what I want, which is the condition on which I will help you get back. Got it?" _

_Snow, Emma and David stared for a while at the two villains standing in their house and Snow was so glad Henry wasn't here right now to hear all of this. The poor boy had been so tired because of all the events they had sent him straight to bed when they had gotten boy, even though it was the middle of the day. He hadn't even protested, proving how tired and upset he was.  
_

_Emma was the first to recover."I..uhm…we..We need to think about this. You don't expect us to give you an answer to this right way do you?"_

"_But darling, it's actually rather simple. You help us, we all get what we want. You don't, we'll become your worst nightmare." Cora said smiling._

"_I don't get why you need her help. Rumpel just said you two are the two people in this two most likely to be able to send us back, except for the Blue Fairy maybe. So what do you need us for then?" David asked._

"_Well, that is the first question I've heard from you all that's actually a good one." Gold said sarcastically. "We need your support, because our magic is, not as good as it could be. Our magic is rather, dark you might say. In order to break the border spell we need white magic. And it needs to be strong. Therefore the magic of that pathetic fairy, totally dependent on sparkly dust, won't do."_

"_And how can we help you with that?" Snow asked._

"_O, it's not really you in particular who can help us dear" Cora now said. "It's your beloved daughter who is the one that can actually help us. However, if I understand it right, in your family you all are so close, that striking a deal with one of you means striking a deal with the entire family."_

"_What? What do you need me for? I don't have magic?" Emma said as her eyes grew wide._

"_O but you do, dearie. It wasn't until you touched Regina's arm, the hat opened a portal. Not to mention the fact that our dear Cora seemed to fail in taking your heart the other day." Gold said, smiling evil as he feels Cora shift on her legs uncomfortably at the mention of her failure._

"_You tried to WHAT?" David asked angrily as he set a step into Cora's direction, but Snow put a hand on his arm. "It's okay James. She doesn't have Emma's heart. She couldn't rip it out. I don't know why, but she just couldn't."_

"_That's because dear Emma here is the product of true love. And true love, is the most powerful magic of all." Gold said. "Exactly the magic we need to break that spell."_

The spell on the border was indeed broken now, but it hadn't been that easy. It took a small year for Emma to get in touch with her magic again and for Gold to learn her how to control it. Snow and David hadn't hidden their displeasure about their daughter practicing magic, but they knew they didn't really have another choice; it was this, or having Gold and Cora as their enemies, which meant that especially Henry would be in unnecessary danger. Cora wasn't the scary woman she had been back in the Enchanted Forest, though. It really seemed as if she was determined to actually help Regina. That she really missed and loved her daughter. The people of Storybrooke hadn't been pleased at all at first, of course, when they learned of the deal their King, Queen and Princess had struck with the two greatest villains in history. But even they saw that Cora wasn't who she had always been. They still avoided running into her as much as they could. But when there was a confrontation, they were civil. This was as much as they could ask from the citizens, as well as from Cora.

Eventually the day had come Emma, Cora and Gold would try to break the spell. Almost the entire town had gathered near the town border to see the event.

"_How will we know we have succeeded?" Emma asked nervously as she stood next to Cora and Gold staring at the line that marked the end of Storybrooke. _

"_We'll sense it. It will probably feel like a heavy burden suddenly being lifted from shoulders." Cora answered and she tried to smile reassuringly to the blonde. Not because she felt any sympathy for the girl, but because Emma being nervous wouldn't do her magic performance much good._

_Emma nodded. "Okay. When do we start?"_

"_Whenever you're ready, dearie."_

"_Okay, there's just one more thing I have to do." Emma said, and she went to walk to her son who was standing together with David, Belle, Ruby and Snow a bit farther away from the line. The whole thing they were going to do wasn't without danger. If the spell they were going to perform would strike back at them, God knew what would happen. _

_Henry walked away from his grandparents and met his mother halfway. "Good luck mom." He mumbled as he gave her a hug. Emma wrapped her arms around her son and held him as tight as she could. She hadn't missed the hope that was in his eyes. She hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed if she wouldn't manage to break the spell. And even if they did succeed, it wouldn't mean they would find Regina, which was Henry hoped for, she knew. The world was big; Regina could be everywhere, and with her not remembering anything a simple advertisement in the newspaper would not do the job. "I'll do the best I can Henry. But I'm sure that everything will be fine." She said reassuringly as she took his head in her hands and looked him in the eyes._

"_Emma. We should start now." Gold called to her from the border._

"_I love you mom." Henry said, as he released himself from the hug and walked back to Snow and David. Emma went back to Cora and Gold. "Okay. Let's break that damn spell."_

_And they did. They had released the spell that was resting on the border in their first try. Gold had been right; Emma knew immediately that it worked as she felt, as Gold had called it, a heavy burden lifted off her shoulders. The euphoria under the citizens of Storybrooke had been indescribable. In the days that followed one family after the other started to make trips to other cities, some even deciding to move from Storybrooke. However lifting the border didn't turn out to be a blessing for everyone, a lot of the families that had moved or had decided to make a trip to outside Storybrooke returned shortly after. It simply was too hard for most of them to live among people that weren't fairy tale characters. That didn't know their land, that didn't have two identities. And so it didn't take long before Emma went to Gold to ask if he was prepared to help them get back now. Although she wasn't too sure she wanted to go with them, she saw that the people of Storybrooke didn't belong here._

_Emma found Gold in his shop talking to Cora. "I don't know where to search for her. She seems to have vanished into thin air." "Well what did you expect, dearie." "Don't call me that."_

"_As I was saying, what did you expect? She isn't Regina anymore. Searching for a woman named Regina Mills simply won't do. Not even mentioning the fact that it mightn't even be a woman you should be searching for."_

_Emma walked up to the curtain that separated the shop from the room Gold and Cora were in as silent as she could. Something was telling her she needed to hear this._

"_What do you mean?" she heard Cora ask._

"_Oh, did I not tell you? Silly me, I most have forgotten it in all the chaos of teaching Emma to control her magic and breaking the spell. The fact is, the border doesn't only erase your memory. It also turns you back to the moment in your life you were still innocent. And as we all know, the Regina that crossed that border wasn't innocent at all." He said with an evil grin splitting his face into two._

_That was when Emma could no longer stay silent and she barged in to the room. "What did you say?" She asked angrily. "Do you mean Regina might be turned back to a twenty year old, or a teenager, or worse, a baby, considering the fact that your plans to corrupt her soul basically started long before she was even born!?" _

"_Wow, you understood what I was saying without me explaining everything a second time. You really made progress Miss Swan." Gold said._

_Emma chose to ignore that comment and decided to look how Cora was reacting on all of this instead. She expected the woman to be furious and to turn back to evil witch mode all over again. But when she looked to Cora she saw none of that. In front of her was sitting a broken woman, a mother that just realized she had just really lost her child. And Emma understood, finding Regina would be an impossible task now they didn't know a name, a location or even the age the woman they were looking for would be. Emma got back to reality by Cora standing up from the chair she was sitting on and leaving the shop, not saying a word. Emma turned back to Gold. "You are not going to help us get back, are you?"_

"_Not just yet no."_

"_Because you still have to 'take care of things outside Storybrooke'. What are these things anyways?" She said sarcastically._

"_Indeed I do. And these things are actually 'a who'. I can tell you because you'll find out eventually anyways. That stupid blue fairy will tell you eventually. I have to find my son."_

"_Your son?" Emma had asked totally astonished by the thought the man in front of her had a son, was a father. It did explain his care for children, though._

That day Gold had told her all about how he had become the Dark One and how it had cost him to lose his son. He told her that once he had found his son, he would help them get back. She had agreed, because she knew how hard it was to not have your kid with you. But now, three years later, here she still was sitting in her own house in Storybrooke. Meaning Gold hadn't found his son yet. Snow and David had been so disappointed when they had heard they wouldn't get back to the Enchanted Forest just yet, but slowly they had learned to come to terms with it, as did the rest of Storybrooke, including Cora. The woman had kept on searching for Regina for a very long time, but she too eventually gave up hope and tried to live on without her daughter. She was still not the nicest person to be around, and it had been more than once that Emma had to solve a problem of citizens turned into toads by the crazy woman. But in general, Cora behaved.

It was then that Emma got rudely interrupted in her trip down memory lane by the sound of the brakes of a car desperately trying to stop but clearly not succeeding, followed by a loud bang. She stood up and hurried out of the house. The sheriff would probably needed…

**So what did you think of this? Don't worry; I won't let Cora be all soft at once. I just want to make clear that when it comes to Regina, she does love her. Although she shows it in the most distorted wicked weird way one could imagine, I was really glad episode 2.09 showed that dynamic between them, that clearly is there but hadn't been made explicit yet. And, I promise, Regina will be back in next chapter****, don't worry! PLEASE review, and don't hesitate to be critical, after all this is my first fan fiction and the first story I right in English..so I'm aware there are many mistakes in there.**

**I´ll try to update again as soon as I can, but I have an essay deadline due in a week and after that midterm exams… so I can´t promise anything… but maybe when you´ll all review and let me know what you think, I'll ignore my study books for a while and update a bit sooner ;).**

**X**

**Metope**


	5. Chapter 4

**Wow thank you all for the amazing reviews! They really help me get motivated to write more :D! It's very much appreciated :D!  
-**

**I'm so sorry  
**

Collin had been driving for hours. Or at least, he thought he was, it hadn't been long after he'd left that he had found out he had forgotten to take his iPhone with him. But he did have his wallet with him this time. He wasn't very good at thinking properly when he was angry, or actually, furious would describe how he felt better. The last time he had taken off in a rage he had forgotten his. While driving he had exceeded the speed limit, got caught and then had to be picked up by his dad– the one person in particular he didn't want to see at that moment- because he hadn't had his driver's license with him. This time that couldn't happen, and maybe it wasn't so bad he didn't have his phone with him, now his dad couldn't stalk him with a thousand calls and voicemail messages.

He didn't even remember anymore what the fight had been about. He had just told his dad that he was thinking about moving out, that he was planning on asking his girlfriend to maybe start living together. They practically did so now anyways, but at his dad's house, which wasn't just quite the same. But suddenly his dad had gone all crazy, telling him he wasn't ready, that he was still a child and not ready to take such a big step. Ridiculous. He was 22 for God's sake, he had successfully earned his law degree a year ago and worked at a fairly successful law firm. But that wasn't exactly what he wanted, he wanted to start his own business, start his own family – that is, living together with his girlfriend, who was absolutely the best girlfriend in the world, and maybe have a dog..that was enough family for now –and he wanted to do it all on his own, far away from his overprotective father, who was also a lawyer and therefore the reason Collin never knew for sure if it was him succeeding or his last name that brought him all the success.

A vague flicker of light woke Collin up from the doze he had fallen into while over thinking everything that had happened. He was lucky he was driving on a highway and that there weren't too many other cars on the road, because he hadn't exactly had his eyes on the road while dozing off. The light he was seeing in the distance was the sunset he realized, so it should be around 7:00 PM now. Time to find a place to rest because Collin felt he was too tired to drive any longer, it had been around noon that he had left the house and he hadn't stopped since.

The problem was, he didn't have a clue where he was. It was probably best to just take the next exit and see where that would bring him.

And so Collin did as he planned, however the exit didn't lead him into a town or a village or something, it just led him to a smaller road with trees on both sides, which made it impossible to turn around and find another way to go. "Guess I'll have to stay awake just a little bit longer then." He said, trying to keep his eyes open for just a bit longer. After a while he saw a town sign dooming up at the horizon. "O great, I made it." But just then his eyes gave up on him entirely and closed as sleep took over.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

Emma quickly got into her car while dialing the number of the Sheriff's station. "Ruby? Did you just hear that bang?" Emma asked as soon as her deputy sheriff took up the phone. "Yes Emma I did and someone called already to tell they had heard the sound of a car crashing. They thought the sound had come from the town border."

"Okay, I'm on my way to check it out. " Emma said and she drove out of the driveway to the town border. At times like this she was very glad she lived near the town border, she had decided to renovate and then move in to the house that had been standing there without anyone living in it, after Snow had suggested it. It had been a good idea, the people that lived in Storybrooke knew better than to cause any real troubles, they wouldn't want to have the princess of the fair Queen Snow and brave King Charming against them. Of course there sometimes were some troubles with Leroy, but nothing serious. It were the people from outside the town that could now cross the border that could mean real trouble, and that's why living as close to the boarder as possible seemed best.

However, shortly after Emma had moved in, Mr. Gold and Cora came to her telling her they had found a way to make it possible for outsiders to enter the town only when they had the consent of one of the citizens of Storybrooke to do so. With the enchantment it would be much easier to keep everyone in Storybrooke save, and also the other way around: To keep nosy outsiders away from certain fairytale characters that weren't too fond of the 'common people', King George for example.

When Emma arrived at the town border she saw a red car crashed into the town sign just as Ruby had said. The damage seemed to be pretty bad. Quickly she got out of her car and ran to the place of the accident. Inside the car was a man, or actually it was just a boy. She thought he had to be in his early twenties. His head was resting against the steering-wheel and blood was dripping down his face, coming from a large wound at the top of his head. She didn't know who this guy was, it was an outsider for sure. Which was weird, because she didn't see anyone she knew around here either. So how did this guy even get past the border? Part of the enchantment was that a stranger could only enter when he had the consent of one of the citizens, therefore, this citizen had to wait at the border. That way the outsider would be close enough to an inhabitant of the town to be able to cross the border. Emma looked around once more, but there really was no one to be seen. "Come on Emma, focus. There's someone injured here really badly, he should be your main concern right now." She opened the passenger door, and went in to see if the boy was still breathing. After she made sure he was, she quickly dialed the number of the hospital to ask for an ambulance.

Then she went to look for the boy's wallet. Since she knew for sure that he wasn't from around here, she would have to call his parents or something, to tell them about what happened to their son and to get over here as soon as they could.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

"How is he doing?"

"He will be fine, Sheriff. Although he has been very, very lucky." Doctor Whale answered. They were both staring through the window to the boy that was lying inside the hospital room. His head was now wrapped in bandage, as was his left arm that had turned out to be broken too.

"Could you reach any family?"

"Yes. His father. He's coming this way immediately, he should be here in half an hour or something. He said it was a 5 hours ride from where he lived and I have called him right after I called you. I told him to call when he reached the border. So that I, you know, can help him cross."

"A five hours ride? I wonder who he is then, coming from so far and managing to enter the city without anyone there helping him." Whale said.

"I know. That's what I want to know too." Emma said.

"Mom! What happened?" Emma turned around to see Snow, David and Henry enter the hospital.

"Emma, we heard someone has had a car accident. Is it any one we know?"her mother asked as she walked up to Emma.

"No it's not anyone we know. In fact, it's a total stranger."

"Really? Then who brought him into the town?" David asked as he and Henry joint his wife and daughter.

"Yeah, that's what I want to know. Seems that enchantment Cora and Gold put on the town isn't that great after all." Emma said.

Just then the hospital doors opened once again and a tall man and a girl entered. The man walked straight up to the counter and waited impatiently till the receptionist asked him what he was coming for. The girl was on his right, which made it impossible for Emma and the rest to see her, since they were on the man's left.

"Hi, I am here because I received a call from the Sherrif this afternoon that my son has had an accident here?"

"Oh, of course, Sir. Your son is lying in the room left from the counter, for you on your right. The sheriff is standing right in front of the room as well together with the doctor who treated your son. I'm sure they will fill you in on the details.

"Hm, that enchantment spell isn´t working properly for sure. Now these two got in to town to without anyone helping them. I´ll have to ask Gold about this later. Let's go Whale and fill this parent in." Emma said after she saw the man coming their way, the girl behind him.

Whale nodded and together they walked to the man, only to stop dead in their tracks as soon as the girl that had till then walked behind the father of the boy now quickly walked passed him. She ran passed Emma and Whale then passed Snow, David and Henry straight into the room where the boy was lying. Meanwhile the man reached Emma and Whale and looked confused at the two people who had suddenly stopped walking and just looked at each other with great confused eyes. The man, assuming they were shocked because the girl had just walked in to the room without asking or saying anything, started to make his apologies.

"I'm sorry. Don't mind her. She's his girlfriend and she's just very worried about him. They are still so young, life hasn't hardened them yet, she has had a panic attack twice on our way up here. I guess she couldn't wait any longer to see him and make sure he´s alright. Now can you please fill me in about what happened to my son?"

Henry turned to his grandparents his eyes wide with shock. "Was that…that was….she looks so much like…It can't be…Mom?" Henry asked and he stared at his grandparents, expecting them to help him out of his confusion. The girl that had just ran passed them had had dark raven brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and an olive tone skin. Just like his mother. However, this girl's hair was long and she could only be 18 or 19 years old. So in fact it couldn't be his mom, could it?

"I…I, No Henry, I'm fairly sure it can't be Regina." Snow was the first one to talk.

"Your grandmother is right Henry, it can't be her. After all Regina was 35 years old when she disappeared, this girl is hardly 19."

"I know. But she just looks so much like her. She even wears the same perfume as mom always did."

He turned to look into the room the stranger was lying in. He couldn't see the girl, she was probably standing close to the boy´s head, the blinds of the window where closed there. Henry turned his head away from the room to look at Emma. He saw she and Doctor Whale were still explaining to the boy's father what had happened. He decided he would go see for himself then whether he was right or not, and so he walked to the room and opened the door.

"O my god. Collin. Look at you, what have you done! How could you be so stupid. I was so scared, I thought I had lost you!" The moment Henry entered the room he knew it was his mother, he could hear it in her voice. That voice sounded so familiar, yet it wasn't exactly the same, this voice was lighter, it sounded more girly and free somehow. However at the moment it was also filled with sadness and worry. She was sitting on the side of the bed, the boy, apparently named Collin was awake and he was stroking her cheek. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm so sorry." He said, and then he lowered his hand and closed his eyes again. "I'm…..tired" He managed to say, but Henry could see it cost him much effort to do so.

"That's okay. You just rest, that way you'll get better." She bend forward to kiss him. "I love you Collin." she whispered.

"I love you too…Gina." Collin said.

Henry gasped, Gina..this was Regina, this WAS his mom. He didn't know how it could be that she was so much younger..but he knew it was her.  
Snow, David, Emma, Dr. Whale entered the room too. The tall men that was Collin's father was still filling in some paperwork at the counter. The girl-who-was-probably-his-mom, turned at the sound of all the people entering the room. The four adults and boy in front of her all stared at her, eyes wide, mouth open.

"Uhm…Hi..I'm sorry I just barged in to this room, doctor. I don't know if I was allowed to, but I just..I was so worried and…I'm sorry…" her voice trailed away and she looked down to her feet, the trails her tears had left on her cheeks shimmering in the light as she did so. Emma was the first to recover.

"Oh, no, it's no..uh..no problem. It's perfectly understandable. Your…the..Collin's father said you are his girlfriend and that you're practically family, so I guess it's fine."

The girl smiled. "Yes.." She looked up to where Collin's father was still standing outside filling in the paperwork the receptionist had given to him. Why is Mr. Bae filling in all that paperwork? Can't he see his son right now?" She asked.

"He said he would give you some time to be with Collin alone. That he would come after he would have filled in all the forms. Although I believe, us being in here kinda ruins his purpose." Emma smiled awkwardly.

She couldn't believe to whom she was talking. In front of her was standing an exact copy of the Regina that had disappeared 4 years ago. This was just a younger version, with longer hair and actually a totally different style of clothing too. The Regina she knew wore pencil skirts and blazers. This Regina, however, wore a bright light blue sleeveless summer dress with a bateau neck and a clock skirt. And instead of the killer heels the old Regina always wore, this young girl wore white flats. Her long raven brown hair was hanging loosely down the sides of her face. Only a few strands of hair were held back by a small clip with a little blue flower on it.

Emma was certain this was Regina, it wasn't entirely impossible. She thought back at the day she had overheard Cora and Gold's conversation about the border spell. That it would turn you back to the moment in your life where you were still innocent. Quickly doing the math, Emma figured out Regina had to be turned back to the age of 14, maybe 15 when she had crossed the border. And as weird and unbelievable as this all sounded in her head, she knew it had to be the truth, regarding the fact that this girl also had a scar on her lip, just as Regina had had.

"O, but that's okay. I'm Gina btw. Gina Moulin" she said and she held out her hand to Emma, waiting for Emma to shake it.

Emma returned the gesture and smiled, although it wasn't a very convincing smile. The girl smiled and then turned to look at Henry who was still standing at the door together with David and.. hadn't Snow been in the room there too just before? Emma looked through the windows and could just see Snow leaving the building, when she looked back she met David's sight. He looked worried, Emma smiled at him, but as she was just as confused as David an Snow must be, it didn't really help.

"Hi, as I said, I'm Gina Moulin." Gina now said and she smiled to Henry and David.

"H- Hi…I'm, I'm Henry. And this here is my grandfather David." O how awkward must this be for Henry, Emma thought and the irony that she had to come back at the day she had disappeared four years ago…

"Grandfather…? You seem rather young, sir, to be a grandfather." David raised an eyebrow at this. and Regina's face turned red. "O I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to insult you in any way. It's just…I'm sorry."

David couldn't help himself but smile. On one hand this girl looked exactly like a younger version of Regina, on the other, her way of acting and the way she dressed weren't like the former Evil Queen and Mayor at all. "It's okay. It's a little complicated. Let's just keep it with that." He said.

It was then that the father of Collin entered the room. He walked straight up to the bed where his son was still sleeping. Regina walked to the corner of the room were a chair was standing and handed it to the man, apparently called Mr. Bae. "Here Aiden, you can sit here so you can be next to him." She said. The man took the chair from her gratefully and smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, he was to worried for his son for that. "Thank you dear."

Gina smiled back to him. "I uhm, I am going to get some food or something. I'm kinda hungry, do you want something too?" She asked. Aiden shook his head.

"Okay." she turned to Henry, Emma and David who were still standing in the room together with Whale. "Uhm, could any of you guys show me where I can find something to eat? And we both need a place to stay too. Mr. Bae can't sit in that chair the entire night."

"Yes. Of course…uhm..but if you don't want to leave your boyfriend you can tell me what you'd like to eat and I can bring get it for you?" Emma asked, it didn't seem such a good idea to her to let Regina walk through the streets of Storybrooke, despite the fact that it was already around 10:00 PM. If people would recognize her that would certainly create a big fuzz and she didn't want to deal with that right now.

"Oh that would be great. Just some pasta would be fine." Gina said.

"Okay, pasta it will be. I'll be right back. David, Henry are you two coming with me?" Emma asked as she was making her way to the door. The two nodded quickly and followed Emma out of the room. Doctor Whale right behind them.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

Cora was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital. A towel wrapped around her hand. She had been preparing to go to bed and had just grabbed the wine glass that was still standing on the table, as she felt over the book she had been reading that had somehow fallen to the ground. Trying to break her fall she had squeezed the hand the wine glass was in, cause the glass to shatter in her hands leaving various deep cuts with glass in it in her hand. A trip to the ER it was.

While she was waiting a man came to sit next to her. He smiled at her, she smiled politely back. The man gestured at her hand. Accident?

"Well yes, I would think so, else I wouldn't be here would I?"Cora snapped, what a stupid question.

"Oh yes, right. I'm sorry. How stupid of me. Forgive me, I'm a little confused. You see, my son is lying over there after a car accident." The man said and he gestured to the room that was on the other side of the entrance hall of the hospital. "Well why aren't you with him then?" she asked, she'd rather that he would just leave and leave her be.

"His girlfriend. She's devastated, I thought I would give them some more time together. That way she can calm down a bit, and I can think."

"O."She didn't want to say anything to let the man think she was interested. It seemed to work.

"Mrs. Mills. You can follow me." A nurse said as she gestured to Cora to come with her. On their way to the doctor that would help her they passed by the room the son of the man from the waiting room was in. Cora couldn't help it but peek through the blinds of the window to see who was in there. As soon as she looked her eyes grew wide of shock and she stopped walking. In the hospital bed was boy with bandage around his head sleeping. The girl, his girlfriend as the man had said, was lying next to him on the same bed sound asleep as well, her hand resting on his chest. That girl however, was her daughter. That was Regina, she knew for sure.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

As Emma reentered the hospital now with a take home pasta bag she saw Cora standing in front of the window Collin and probably Regina – Gina – was in too.

"O boy." she said to herself. "Now all hell breaks loose."

**Well what do you think. Don't hate me too much for turning Regina's last name into Moulin..I coulnd't think of anything else xD I know it's lame though. Sorry.**

**Please review and tell me what you thank. Tell me too, if you like, what you want Regina to be like? What kind of career does she have now? What are her dreams, what has she done those past four years?**

**It will be a while before I'll update again. I have to study big time this week for my upcoming exams that are the week after that…**

**x**

**Metope**


	6. Chapter 5

**First of all..I know you all got a new e-mail about an update while this chapter was up already. But as some may know, a few days ago I experienced some problems with my fanfiction account that messed up with the story..and it was only today I found out the second chapter had disappeared and instead the third chapter was in here twice...soo I fixed it now..very sorry, but now everything is alright again :)!  
-**

**Wow thank all of you for your amazing reviews and Hii to all the new followers of this story !**

**It's quite late atm, so I'm sorry if there are spelling/grammar mistakes. I'll reread this chapter tomorrow to correct the mistakes.**

**Pancakes**

"Thank you for that delicious breakfast, madam." Aiden said as Granny took his plate away.

"O please mister Bae, call me Granny. Everyone does. But I'm glad you liked it. I hope your room was okay too?" Granny asked.

"O but you should call me Aiden then, and yes yes the room was perfect. You have quite a lovely business here, _Granny_. A great menu and good rooms."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. How is your son?"

"I don't know, I think he's fine, or as fine as someone can be in his situation." Granny nodded understandingly. "I haven't received a call from the hospital since I came here last night, so I assume there wasn't really anything to tell me. I'm going there now to check on him and to see if his girlfriend is alright. Speaking of which, do you have some pancakes or something to take with me? She has spent the night at the hospital with Collin so I think she'll be hungry by now." Aiden said.

"Oh yes, of course. I'll get some for you right now." Granny said and she walked to the kitchen.

As Aiden was waiting for Granny to return with the pancakes the door of the diner opened and a man and woman came in. The man's eyes scanned the diner in order to find a place for both of them to sit, but his eyes stopped and grew wide when they met Aiden's. The man set a few steps in Aiden's direction. "Bae? Baelfire, is that you?"

Aiden didn't really know what to do. It simply couldn't be who he thought he was, that man standing in front of him. That couldn't be his father, could it. This man didn't look like the Dark One at all, nor did the man look like the poor farmer Rumpelstiltskin had been before that. And yet, there was no doubt this _was_ his father.

"Rumpelstiltskin?" Aiden managed to say while his brain was working like crazy to understand what was happening.

The sound of people talking that until then had filled the diner had silenced, and Aiden noticed everyone was staring at them. "So it _is _you then. You _are _Bae, you _are _my boy then." Gold said, obviously not disturbed by all the staring eyes, his voice not even close to the determined, wise yet slightly evil voice it was normally.

Aiden set a few steps in the direction of Rumpelstiltskin, his father, and in the absence of knowing or wanting anything else to do, he held out his hand, waiting for Rumpelstiltskin to shake it.

Gold, on his turn, stared at the hand confused, he wanted to give his long lost son a hug, what was the hand for?

"Rumpelstiltskin, I think..you should shake the hand? Remember?"Belle now said and she laughed nervously, not understanding the slightest of what was going on, but that was something she was getting used to by now. Fully understanding Rumpelstiltskin, would probably an impossible task.

"Oh yes yes." Gold nodded as he shook the hand of his son, awkwardly.

"Let's sit down, so we can, talk? If you- if you want to talk?" Gold stammered.

Belle was confused, she had only seen Rumpelstiltskin this insecure, this – vulnerable, once: When he had told her about his lost son. But that couldn't possibly be this man? Or Could it? She started to do the math. Rumpel had told her his son had been 14 when he disappeared, Regina had cast the curse about 20 years later and then they had all been stuck here for 28 years. Meaning Bae should have been about 68 and not in his fifties, like this man was.

"How, what..How did you get here?" Gold asked as they sat down, "I've searched for you since the day you- disappeared, but I could never find you, not back there, not here."

Aiden sighed, he was confused. He still blamed his father for leaving him like that, for choosing the power of magic over him. But at the same time he could see this was not the same men, not entirely. This was not the Dark One. And as angry as Aiden still was with his father, he loved his dad too, and that love told him to be honest with his father and tell him everything.

"Well. After I fell through the portal, I was so confused and I was – heartbroken, because I lost you. But, I didn't land here. I landed in another world I landed in – "

"Another world, how is that possible? All- everything I always saw, saw about what would happen, all that always told me I had to go to _this_ world to find you." Gold interrupted his son.

" – well, then your visions were wrong. Or not entirely, because you did find me here now. But as I said, I didn't land here. I landed in Neverland. And I stayed there for about ten years. It was a nice place, I learned to like it there, and I learned slowly to deal with your absence. I "

"You are Peter Pan!" Belle exclaimed.

Gold and Aiden stared at her, Gold raising his eyebrow questioningly.

"People don't really go to the library yet, so I've had plenty of time to read.."Belle explained. Aiden smiled, he liked this girl, whoever she was.

"Well yes, I was called Peter Pen in that world yes. As I said, I stayed there for about ten years, and then I met.."

"Wendy." Belle sighed.

"Belle, please let him tell the story?" Gold said a bit irritated.

Aiden smiled again. "Yes I met Wendy indeed. And, we fell in love and I returned with her. And after that, I started a whole new life in this world, as Aiden, Aiden Bae. I eventually married Wendy, we became a family and…and now I'm here because my lovely but sometimes very stupid son and his car got into a fight with your town sign, you could say. Which is why I ended up driving to the hospital here yesterday to see my son." Aiden concluded his story.

Gold nodded, he felt guilty. He had had plenty of years to feel guilty, but now, now his son was sitting right in front of him, he felt more guilty than ever.

Aiden saw this, and he felt sorry for his father, his father had missed him long enough, had had long enough time without him to be punished. They were both grown up mean now, holding a grudge against Rumpel wouldn't help anything.

"And now, I would like to know how you ended up here. "

Belle smiled nervously, making Aiden think that what had to come wouldn't be pretty. And indeed, it wasn't. When Rumpelstiltskin was done telling the whole story, Aiden blinked a few times and tried to come up with something to say…which seemed rather difficult.

Both Gold and Belle waited for Aiden to react with worry on their face. If he's this upset about what Rumpel has told him now, it's a good thing he didn't explain how he had gotten Regina to enact the curse, Belle thought. Gold only said that he had given 'the Evil Queen' a curse to enact so they would all be send to this land, not explaining that Gold had planned the whole thing to work exactly as he wanted it to from the moment Regina had been born.

"Well I must say, from all the scenario's I've ever thought of about of you finding me, I didn't think of this. That is- this is quite something to take in…" Aiden stammered.

"So the curse is broken now? And you can all cross the border, but for strangers to visite Storybrooke that is still regulated by magic?"

"Yes, yes it is. One can only enter when one has the full consent of a citizen from Storybrooke or when one is a fairytale character himself, which is the case with you and your son."

Aiden nodded. "Speaking of my son..I got to go..I got to check on him, see if he's alright."

Gold nodded. "Okay, can we..do you want to meet again this afternoon, or tomorrow?"

Aiden hesitated, this man didn't feel like his father at all. He had been without one for too long, but on the other hand, he still felt this connection to him. There would never be a real bond between father and son like there had been, he knew that, but maybe, they could become friends? Sort of? So he decided to go with it.

"Yes, that's fine. Shall we meet here again?"

"No, I'd rather meet in a place less, crowded." Gold said, the people in the diner had slowly resumed eating and talking again, but there still were some curious glances their way somehow, making Gold feel, for the first time, highly uncomfortable. "Just come to my house, we can have lunch there." Gold said.

"Okay. I'll do that then."Aiden said and he turned to the counter to see if Granny had his pancakes ready. Right at that moment she came back from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry it took me so long Mr. Bae." she said. "My granddaughter had a little problem with the oven that had to be fixed first."

"O, that's no problem, Granny. I'm sure my daughter in law will be extremely happy with these pancakes, so it was worth the wait." And with that he took the pancakes and left the diner.

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

Gina woke up by the sound of her stomach protesting loudly it needed some food, and it needed it now. Careful not to wake Collin, who was still asleep next to her, she stood up from the bed and walked to the sink that was in the room. She splashed some of the cool water in her face and then looked up in the mirror above the sink. She had bags under her eyes, and her eyes were still a bit red because of all the crying. Looking down she saw she had wrinkled her dress pretty badly in her sleep. "Well, I'm looking like a total mess. That's for sure." She said to herself. Her stomach growled again. "Time to find something to eat, I suppose."

She watched at her boyfriend still sleeping peacefully. He really had been very lucky, she thought. She had seen his car still standing on the side of the road at the town border when they had arrived. And the state the car was in made it almost seem impossible that Collin 'only' had a broken arm and a head wound. For a moment she thought about waking him up, just to make sure he was still alive, just to look in his beautiful blue eyes again, but then she decided she would let him sleep. Sleep would heal him, the doctor had said, so the more he slept, the sooner they could turn back home, she thought. So she turned around and walked out of the room to find something to eat.

Standing in the entrance hall Regina scanned the room for a sign to a cafeteria, but she couldn't find one. As a matter of fact, there wasn't anything eatable to be seen, not even a vending machine. She walked to the counter to ask the receptionist, another woman than the one of last night, if she could tell her where to find some breakfast.

"I'm sorry, miss. I was wondering if you could tell me where I can find something to eat."

The woman behind the counter stared at her for a few seconds, opening her mouth, closing it and then opening it again. "Uh, yes. Of course. You – you'll have to go down the road to Granny's diner, you can eat something there."

"O," Gina said, "I was hoping there was something here in the hospital, I'd rather not leave, my boyfriend is lying here."

"No. I'm sorry, we don't have a place like that here in the hospital, but the diner is not far away, I'd say it's a two minute walk from here." The woman said, still staring at Gina with confused eyes.

Gina smiled uncomfortably. "Oh well. Then I'll go down there. Thank you for helping me."

*OUAT* *OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

"Brr!"Regina gasped as the cold wind seemed to blow right through her dress. It was cold outside, as could be expected of a winter day in December. She started to walk down the road as quickly as she could, the sooner she would be there the better.

When she was half way a woman walked up to her.

"Oh my, aren't you incredibly cold dear? You're wearing a summer dress and it's freezing!"

Gina smiled. "Oh, it's fine. I mean, I am cold, but I'm on my way to the Diner which isn't very far, so I'll be just fine."

"O but nonsense, you can't continue to walk in this! You just come with me, I'll get you something to eat and I'll find you something warmer to wear."

Gina hesitated, she was very cold after all, and she didn't really now were Mr. Bae was, probably in a hotel somewhere in the city, but she hadn't planned on staying away long. She wanted to get back to Collin as fast as she could, so she would be there when he woke up. Bu then again, when she would catch a cold and get sick..no one would benefit from that…

"Well, maybe, maybe I should go with you indeed. As a matter of fact I am indeed very cold. Thank you.."

"O how silly of me, I didn't even introduce myself to you. I'm Cora Mills." The woman said as she held out her hand.

Gina smiled as she shook the hand. "Well, thank you Mrs. Mills. O how funny, then our last names mean the same! 'Cause I'm Gina, Gina Moulin."

"O, I know that, dear." Cora said.

Gina raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"I was at the hospital too last night when you were with your boyfriend. The Sheriff told me what happened." Cora explained, and with that an almost invisible frown showed on her face as she thought back about that annoying Sheriff. All she'd wanted to do was storm in the room and go to her daughter, get her back. But Emma hadn't let her. Instead she had taken Cora to the diner to explain to her that this wasn't the Regina they all knew.

_"She doesn't remember anything." Emma said."She didn't recognize me, she didn't recognize Whale, she acts like she is here for the first time. She didn't even recognize Henry!"_

_"Well of course she doesn't, Sheriff. The border spell erased all of her memories."_

_"Well if you're smart enough to know that, you must be smart enough too, to understand that you can't just barge in there and hug her or do whatever you wanted to do." Emma said sharply._

_Cora sighed, as annoying as it was, the Charming girl was right. Regina didn't know who she was. She would have to start all over again. Gaining her trust, getting to know this new Regina._

_"I want you to stay away from Regina, Cora."_

_"And why is that?"_

_Emma raised her eyebrow. "Really?"_

_"O but I'm not planning on doing anything to hurt her, Sheriff. This amnesia Regina has. It's actually a blessing. It means I have to start all over again, have to get to know her again, gain her trust again. Make her love me again. This is my second chance."_

_"Your second chance on what? "_

_"My second chance on being a good mother to Regina. But don't worry, I won't go after her." and with that she had left. She wouldn't go to Regina indeed, not tonight..that was.._

"Well, dear. Come, my car is over there. Let's get you some food and something warm to wear." Cora said and Gina nodded happily as they walked together to the car that was parked a bit further down the road.

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

As Emma closed the door of her car she breathed in the cold winter morning air. She would quickly get some breakfast at Granny's and then go to the hospital to check on Collin and to figure out what to do with the Regina problem. She started walking to the Diner as her attention got caught by two people standing down the road. As she looked closer she saw one of them was Cora and the other….the other was Regina! "Shit." Emma said.

She turned around to walk to Regina to get Cora away from her but just then the two started to walk again, Emma's eyes followed the two as they walked to…Cora's car.

Emma sighed, why did everything always had to be so complicated?

The door of the diner opened.

"Ah, Sheriff Swan. Good morning. I'm happy to see you. I didn't get the chance yesterday to thank you for all the help." Emma turned in the direction of the sound and saw Mr. Bae coming out of the diner a bag of Granny's in his hand.

"Mr. Bae." she said, "O don't worry, I just did my job."

"Well I still want to thank you for it."

"You're welcome then Mr. Bae." Emma smiled.

"I'm going to the hospital now, going to bring Gina some breakfast, I figured she will be hungry by now."

"O, uhm, I just saw her leave." Emma said.

"Leave? To where? With whom?" Aiden said worried.

"O, with the woman you have been talking to last night, sir. I saw them talking on the road and they went in to a car together. But I wouldn't worry too much, sir. I'm sure she's perfectly safe. Mrs. Mills is a very respected woman in town, she has a boutique here with the finest dresses and women's clothes." Emma lied, she didn't know whether Regina was safe at all and Cora wasn't respected at all, she was feared, actually.

"O, but then I take it she must have taken Gina with her to find her some warmer clothes? She was at rehearsal when I picked her up to go here, so she's only wearing a summer dress."

"Rehearsal?"

"Yes, my daughter in law is trying to become a singer." Aiden smiled. "She works very hard for it, and..to be honest, I think she's quite good, I think she can make it. She's rehearsing for a local musical at the moment. And in the meanwhile she's studying to become a vet, if it doesn't work out. But singing and dancing is what she loves to do the most. Although horse riding is a close second."

"Aha.." Emma realized she was being rude, but she simply couldn't imagine Regina singing, let alone dancing.

"Well. I should go now." Aiden said.

"Okay, I'll stop by later this morning too if I find the time for it. But first I'm going to score me some breakfast." Emma said.

"If you want..you can have these pancakes? It would be a waste to throw them away, I heard they're really good."

Emma smiled. "Yes they are, and thank you. That would be really nice, I could go with you to check on Collin. You just saved me a lot of stress, mister Bae."

"Well, I'm glad to help, Sheriff."

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

"You have an amazing shop here, Mrs. Mills." Gina said as she was browsing through the clothing racks in the shop.

"I'm glad you like it, Gina. Just pick something warm to wear."

"O but I couldn't. I don't have any money with me and- "

"Nonsense, I'm glad I can help you, you simply can't walk around any longer in that thin summer dress. You can pay me back some other time." Cora said firmly.

"O thank you madam." Cora felt a wave of sadness flood through her as she watched the smile on her daughter's face. She hadn't seen that smile in a long time and all she wanted to do right now was pull her daughter into a hug and never let go.

"You can change over there."She said, repressing the feelings inside of her.

Gina nodded and went to the direction Cora had pointed.

After a few moments she came out of the fitting room again, now wearing dark jeans, a wide white shirt and a blue blazer.

"Now that's much better." Cora said with a smile. Gina smiled back.

"What's the time?"

"It's half past ten. Why?"

"O Mrs. Mills, you have done so much for me already, but..Could you please drop me of at the hospital? I think my boyfriend has woken up by now, and I want to.."

"You want to be with him to see if he's okay." Cora finished the sentence. She felt the same sadness again. She didn't want her daughter to go, she wanted her daughter all for herself. But no, this time, it would be different. This was her second chance.

"Yes, I really miss him." Gina said as her blushed and bowed her head.

"That's okay dear. Come I'll drive you there right now." Cora said with a slightly said smile.

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

"Gina! There you are. I was already wondering if you'd gotten sucked into a portal to another land or something" Collin joked as soon as Gina (and Cora) entered the room.

Gina laughed. "No..I left you to get some breakfast, but then Mrs. Mills here offered to help me. Because I was still wearing my rehearsal clothes, which weren't very much soothed for the cold weather." She walked up to the bed and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"How are you feeling? Does it hurt?" Gina asked as she looked at his head with worried eyes.

"I'm feeling okay. You just missed the Sheriff and my dad by the way. But, Dr. Whale told me that I have to stay here for the day, just to be sure. But that if nothing changes I can leave."  
Gina smiled but then her smile fell just as quickly.

"What is it?"

"Hm? Oh, no it's nothing."

Collin grabbed her hand that had been holding the frame of the bed.

"Gina. I can see there is something. Now tell me, or I'll be worrying all the time about what it is, and that won't do me any good now."

Gina smiled sadly. "It's nothing. It's stupid, and very selfish of me. I'd just hoped I could have gone to the Christmas concert. But when you have to stay here for the rest of the day, we won't make it back in time for me to perform."

"Oh..Yeah..that sucks pretty bad indeed." Collin said.

Regina pursed her lips slightly. "Language, Collin."

Collin smiled.

"I'm sorry. Honey. But I just meant to say that it's a real shame indeed that you won't make it back in time."

"It doesn't matter that much. It also means that I can spend more time with you here."She said and she smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Uhm, maybe I could drive you there Gina." Cora said.

Gina turned around, she had almost forgotten Cora had still been in the room.

"Oh now, Mrs. Mills. That won't be necessary. I'll just stay here."

"Are you sure? Is it a big thing? This performance..you sing?" Cora asked. She was genuinely interested now. She didn't know whether Regina could sing at all.

"Yes it is." Collin said for Gina. "It's charity concert to raise money for cancer. It will be broadcasted on national television and it will also be her début as a singer. So yeah, it's pretty big."

Gina smiled nervously. "Yes, but I won't be going so..let's talk about something else."

"O but then I insist on driving you there!"Cora said, and she couldn't help but feel proud, even though she didn't even know if Regina was really any good at singing.

"Drive her where, Mrs. Mills?" Emma asked as she walked in the hospital room together with Henry.

"Oh nothing." Gina said quickly. "I have to sing at a Christmas charity concert tonight but I won't be able to go since Collin has to stay here a little longer. And Mrs. Mills offered to drive me there. But I possible couldn't accept that."

"O but she can. I insist on it." Cora said in a slightly sharper tone than she had meant to, that sheriff was annoying.

"You should just accept the offer, Gina. It's almost rude to decline now." Collin said, oo she would get so mad at him when everyone had left, for making her feel so uncomfortable. But he just really wanted her to do this.

No way I'm letting Cora take off with Regina. Emma thought.

"Well I could drive you there too, I have to leave town today anyways, so you won't be a burden to me?" As Emma said this she just kept looking at Regina, knowing that with the slightest move of her head her eyes would see Henry's shocked face next to her. And he had every right to be shocked. She just lied that she had to leave town just so she could drive Regina to some sort of concert, and she didn't even know where it was. And all of that because she didn't want to let Cora get what she wanted. She really hoped Regina would still not want to go.

"Well..if you all _insist_ on me singing…I do really want to go..and if it's really no problem? It's a concert in Boston…Is that okay?"

Shit..Emma thought.._now_ she decides to give in? "Oh, yeah, as a matter of fact I need to be in Boston too.

"O but then I should get you a ticket so you can watch the entire concert!" Gina said happy.

"Yes…That's so…nice of you." Emma said uncomfortably.

"O and Henry. If you want..and if it's okay with your mom, you can come to?" Gina said with a smile.

Henry's cheeks turned red immediately and Emma took his hand in hers. Regina being here like this had been confusing for her and David and Doctor Whale, and maybe for Cora too, but Henry was the one that really was confused by all of it. And she couldn't blame the boy, his mom suddenly returned to him, but now she was only 6 years older than he was.

"I – No thanks..I have..homework and other stuff to do. Excuse me."He stammered and then left the room. "Don't mind him..Teenagers.." Emma said.

"O it's okay." Gina said. "Thank you very much Sheriff for wanting to help me."

"I – I should be going now." Cora now said.

"Okay. Goodbye Mrs. Mills. Thank you again for helping me, and when I get back from the concert I'll pay you back for the clothes."

Cora smiled. "That's okay dear."

"I should be going too." Emma said. "I'll come pick you up in an hour." she said.

Regina nodded. "Goodbye Sheriff, goodbye Mrs. Mills" Collin said.

Emma and Cora left the hospital in silence, and as soon as they could they went separate ways. Cora determined to ignore Emma to death. Emma worrying too much about how she would tell this to Snow to be concerned with how to handle Cora…

**Ok I know I know, this chapter was kinda lame..but I'm just a bit stuck…I have parts of the storyline worked out in my head but there are also some holes in the plotline…and I can't seem to find a way to fill them..this chapter was a pathetic attempt to fill one..and well..it isn't really what I want it to be…**

**So please REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS! What do you want to see happen? Should Cora stay like this, or will she turn all evil eventually? Let me know:) !**

**I'll try to update again in a week.**


	7. Chapter 6

**New chapter! I really wanted to update the story before I leave. Because I'll be away until December 24****th****, and updating on Christmas isn't really something I'm planning on doing. So here you go ^^!**

**O Holy Night**

"Emma! I cannot believe this! You agreed to do WHAT? Why don't you just ask her to move in with you right away. Maybe you can buy a pair of those best friend forever necklaces on the way!"

Emma was sitting on the couch in Snow's apartment. She had 'dropped the bomb' right after she came from the hospital. Snow was spacing out about it for a while now..

"Geez Snow!"

"Don't talk to me like that I'm – "

" - my mother, I know. But you sure aren't acting like that right now."

Snow sighed. "But I just can't understand it Emma. I can't understand how you can truly believe that she's changed, that she really doesn't remember anything. It wouldn't surprise me if this is one big scheme of hers, a plan to let us all pay for whatever she thinks we have done to her now."

"You forget about my 'superpower'. I know she isn't pretending and really. If you would have taken the effort to speak to her, you would see that's she's truly different. She's – "

"- kind? Gentle? Loving? Funny? a bit shy even?"

"Yeah - , so you _did_ talk to her then, how can you not believe this isn't the Regina we all knew?"

"Because this is _exactly_ Regina. It's the Regina I knew, the Regina that saved me from the runaway horse. The Regina that told me the meaning of true love. _That _Regina, that's the same Regina as that ran into that hospital room yesterday. And _that_ Regina turned out to have this incredibly dark side, this evil side, addicted to magic. And if this is indeed the same Regina that crossed the border, and about that there is no doubt, that means that magic is still inside her, meaning that evil side, that dark side of hers is somewhere in there too. Which means this is either one big set up, or that dark side will surface eventually, and I don't want that to happen. I don't want you, or anyone I love and care about near her when that happens. And believe me Emma, it will happen." Snow was now standing right in front of Emma.

"Are you done?" Emma asked, looking up, clearly unimpressed by everything Snow had just said.

"Uh- yes, I guess so."

"Look. It's actually quite simple. I_ am_ going to drive her to Boston, and believe me, it's not at all what I had planned to happen, but it just happened. This dark side you're talking about. I don't know that side, and I hope I never will. But what I do know is that Regina left Storybrooke because she changed, the mayor I got to know when I first came here, that woman would have never given up. And you know as well as I do, that Regina didn't let that dark side out, all by herself. Our beloved Mr. Gold and Regina's darling mother did all in their power to get her to that state. And that's exactly why I have to drive Regina to Boston. Because if I don't, Cora will, and Regina will trust her, and as much as I want to believe that Cora has redeemed herself, I'm not at all sure about that. And if she is still evil, letting Regina go off with Cora could be the biggest mistake ever made. So I'm sorry that you feel this way, and I get that this is hard for you, but as Sheriff of this town I have to do what I think is best for the town's safety. And right now, I think that keeping Regina out of Cora's hands is best, and if that means I'll have to drive her to Boston and spend my Saturday night at some cheesy Christmas concert, I will do that." Emma had now gotten off the couch and was facing Snow, standing eye to eye.

Snow closed her eyes and sighed. "Okay- if this is what you think is best.."

"Good. I'm glad you agree with me now, 'cause I need you to do something for me."

"O?"

"Yeah..Cora has really set her mind on reuniting with Regina. Meaning that, even though Collin will be released from the hospital, she'll find a way to let Regina visit Storybrooke more often, to let her visit more often."

"Meaning people will recognize her…" Snow said nodding.

"Yeah. And we don't know how they'll react, and with Regina not remembering anything of her past life, that could lead to awkward and confusing situations. So while I'm away with Regina, I need you to gather everyone for a town meeting, explain the situation to them and I need you to get all those stubborn citizens through their head that this is NOT the Regina they now. And that they cannot act in the slightest way as if they know her, let alone go all 'angry mob' on her."

Snow nodded again. "Yes, yes I understand. I'll arrange that, together with David we must be able to convince them, although it won't be easy…"

Emma smiled and pulled Snow into a hug. "Thanks…mom."

Snow snorted. "Hmm, funny how you always only call me that when you need me to do something for you."

"I _don't_. But, I got to go now. I'm going to find Henry and see if he's alright. Did you see him?"

Snow shook her head. "No, but I think he's at the place he always goes to when he's upset or needs to think."

Emma smiled, Henry always went there, the place where his old castle had been until Regina had ordered to break it down. Their hadn't been built anything to replace it, so it was still the perfect place for Henry to be alone.

"Okay, I'll check if he's there then. I'm leaving in half an hour by the way."

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"Hey kid."

"Hey."

Henry was sitting on a fallen tree trunk, Emma went to sit next to him.

"Are you okay?"

Henry looked up to her, she could see the conflict in his eyes.

"No mom. No. I'm not okay at all. I can't do this, you know. It's all so confusing. I wanted her to come back so badly when she was gone, but now she's here…"

" – it's nothing like you had expected it to be." Emma finished his sentence as she placed her hand on the top of his shoulder.

"Yeah. I mean, she's like what, 19, 20 years old? How is that even possible."

"Really? You're asking me that? The boy who's all about magic and stuff?"

Henry smiled. "I know. I know how it happened, but, that doesn't mean I understand it any better. She's so, different. She smiles all the time, and she's joking, and caring and loving She..back then..she wasn't even like this with me. There was always something that seemed to hold her back. And now, she's this whole other person, and…."

"You just want your mom back, which was a lot easier to want when she wasn't there, than now she's here but doesn't know who you are."

Henry sighed as he leaned in to her.

"I know this is hard for you Henry. And, to be honest, I don't really know how to solve this for you. I think you have to figure this out all by yourself, how hard it may be."

"But what is there to figure out? I feel completely lost."

"Well..you have to decide, if..if you want to stay away from her, or that you want to get to know her..again."

"Like..becoming friends with her?"

"Uhm…well…I don't know, I can imagine that to be extremely awkward for you..but yeah, if you feel like that's what you want, I'd say you should go for it. Because you can, you know? No one will judge you for it."

Henry smiled. "Thanks mom, you really helped me."

"You're welcome, that's what I'm for, I believe." she winked. "But now..I got to go, because I promised your dear, dear mother I'd drive her to Boston. And you should head to Granny's, 'cause I asked Snow and David to inform the town of Regina being here. I don't think you'd want to miss that."

"You're right, wouldn't want to miss their reaction, especially Gold's, for the world." Henry laughed.

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"The - , she – The witch is BACK?" "How?" "Are we in danger?"

David looked desperately to Snow who didn't have a clue what to do either: As soon as they told the town's people the news, the room had exploded it seemed.

"People! Calm down! Please stay calm! As we said this Regina, she is not the Regina we know." David said.

Slowly the room got quite again.

"What do you mean, she isn't the same?" Leroy asked.

"It means that the border spell did his work, and erased her memory. But it didn't do just that, it…changed her too. The border spell turns you back to the moment in your life when you were still innocent..and for Regina..that meant that she got turned into a 15 year old 4 years ago. Meaning she's 19 now. She's a 19 year old girl, she goes by the name of Gina Moulin now and she has absolutely no idea of her past life. And to be honest, she's nothing like her old self. This Regina is nice, and..sweet and has a nice sense of humor too." Snow said.

And before anyone could argue with her she continued:

"And I know this all sounds very unbelievable, and I agree with that. But, for now, we have to believe her. Because Emma does, and it really seems like she doesn't remember anything. Which means that we cannot act like we know her when we see her. She won't understand, because she doesn't know us."

"So? That makes it easier for us to give her the payback she deserves." someone said.

"No. It does not. Emma made it very, very clear that it is not allowed to harm her in any way. You have to understand that Regina is a whole other person, a new person, a person we don't know anything about, and we have to treat her as such. Do I make myself clear?" Snow said firmly.

"If anyone tries to hurt Regina in any way, there will be serious consequences." David added.

"What I would like to know, is how she got here in the first place." a voice sounded from a corner of the diner.

"Well, Rumpelstiltskin, that's actually a good question." David said cynical. "I'm sure you've all heard of the stranger crashing into the town sign a few days ago?"

The people nodded.

"Well, it turns out, the boy,..Regina is his girlfriend."

"Well I didn't see _that one_ coming." Leroy said.

Gold didn't say anything, and no one really noticed how his face turn white, nor saw anyone how Belle put her hand on his arm and squeezed it softly, understanding that this was quite a shock for Rumpel.

"Where is she now?" someone wanted to know.

"Well.." Snow said. "..as a matter of fact. She isn't in town right now. She had to attend to a Christmas Charity Concert in Boston. Emma is driving her there. Apparently..Regina pursues a "showbiz" career now."

At that the people in the diner all started laughing. "The queen? Singing?" "I can't imagine the mayor dancing or doing any kind of the sort."

Henry didn't like how the town was laughing about Regina, about his mom, because she still was. He knew she could sing, she had always sung to him when he was little and couldn't sleep, and she had had a beautiful voice.

"Well it is true, and as a matter of fact, you can all see her, since it will be on television." He said and then turned to Granny. "Maybe you could put it on here, so people can see her?"

Granny looked at Snow and David to see if they were okay with that.

"Go on, Granny, put the television on, I'm actually quite curious myself to see her sing." Snow said with a faint smile.

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Gina liked this Emma, as the sheriff has insisted she'd call her since they would be together in a car for the next couple of hours. "You know, you're actually pretty cool."

Emma choked in the coffee she was drinking from while driving.

"Are you alright?" Gina asked.

"Yes, yes, I just…did something weird while I took a sip, I guess." Emma smiled, "but uhm, thanks, and why is that?"

"Well, you're the sheriff, which is a pretty cool job, and you're also a single mom with a son of 14, which can't be all that easy, I assume. And on top of that..you have this really really cool car."

At that Emma started to laugh, this, she thought, was the ultimate proof that Gina was not the old Regina, because the old Regina had despised her yellow back.

"Haha, well thanks. I think my car is really cool too. And about Henry..it's okay, I get a lot of help from my parents, so I can manage."

"Yeah, about that…your parents…Mr. and Mrs. Nolan seem very…..young?"

"Uhm, yeah,well, let's just say it's very very complicated."

Gina nodded, she understood Emma didn't really feel like explaining that to her.

"But now we're talking about parents anyways..where are yours? Did you call them to say you're here?" The moment Emma had asked, she regretted it, as she looked to her right she saw Gina's face sadden.

"Uh..no. I. Don't have parents." she said. "- or at least not that I know of. I – my oldest memory is from when I was fifteen, I was in a hospital. They said I was found lying somewhere on the road unconscious. I don't know where, I never asked because back then everything was so incredibly confusing. Well, after I was released from the hospital..the foster system took care of me. But, no one wants a fifteen year old that's not their own in their house. So, I switched families, I believe I had lived with four different families by the time I was seventeen. And, I couldn't handle it anymore, so one night I walked away. I lived on the street for three months I believe and it turned out I'm not very good at that,, the whole homeless-thing. So one night, it was winter and so extremely cold, I went to sit down on a bench in a park, I know very cliché, but I just couldn't anymore, and that's where Collin found me. I don't know why, because there are thousands of homeless people in the cities, but he decided to take care of me, he felt like he had to, he said. So I went with him, and the plan was originally that I would stay with them, until I had enough money earned, to find a place of my own. But, well that didn't go as planned as Collin and I fell in love, and well..the rest is history."

"Wow." Was all Emma could say.

Gina blushed, what had gotten in to her? She had just told her entire life story to someone who was practically still a stranger.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry to embarrass you and to make you feel awkward, I shouldn't have told you all this when I've only known you for hardly two days."

"No, no, It's okay. I understand, I have been in the foster system too, for 16 years actually." Emma saw how Gina was opening her mouth to ask undoubtedly how that could be possible when Snow and David were her parents.

"Part of the complicated story…"she said. "But the point is, I know how hard life can be in the system, and..You're very lucky that Collin has found you."

"Yes, I am. And I'm very grateful for that, every day I am."

The two felt silent both feeling a bit sad by all of this.

"So.." Emma said to change the subject. " I assume you'll all leave again tomorrow when Collin is released from the hospital?"

"I guess so, yes. Although I have to come back one more time to pay Mrs. Mills back the money for the clothes she's lend me. And, maybe I'll visit anyways. I really like the town. I don't know what it is, but I really feel comfortable when I'm in Storybrooke, it feels like a second home. I guess it's because you're all so nice." Gina really meant what she said. She didn't know exactly what it was, but everything in Storybrooke seemed a little bit familiar, like she'd been there before. She really liked the place, and it was actually the perfect place to relax, with the beach and the woods, and the fact that the place was rather quite too.

Emma frowned, Gina didn't remember anything from her time being the 35 year old mayor, but could what Gina just said mean she was remembering?

"I'm glad to hear you like our town so much." Emma said. Gina smiled.

"Oh there it is! You can stop here, I have to go to that building over there first to get my dress and other stuff, and then I'm going to rehearse. The concert starts at 8 sharp, and I'll make sure you're name's on the list, so you can get in without a ticket." Gina said.

Emma smiled. "Cool, I'm on a list."

Gina laughed. "Yes, so you can get that off your list of things you want to do before you die then."

She winked.

"How did you know that was even on there?" Emma said, genuinely surprised.

"Everyone has that on his list." Gina laughed, and with that she got out of the car, waved, and started to walk to the building she had to be in.

Emma smiled, she liked this Gina. "Okay Swan, it's 5 o'clock, you've got three hours to entertain yourself in Boston, let's go."

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Gina was sitting backstage in one of the dressing rooms applying her make-up for the night. It was an hour before the show would start and she was starting to feel nervous.

"Hey girl! How are you doing?"

Gina turned around to see one of her best friends, Elisa, standing in the door way. It was she who had made sure Gina would be asked to join the concert. They were in the same local musical together. Gina smiled.

"Uhm I'm fine, I guess. I'm starting to feel nervous."

"Oh..but there's no need for that. You're awesome! And I'm very glad you could make it! How's Collin doing?"

"He's fine, it's a miracle but he has only a shallow head wound and a broken arm. So he will be released tonight."

"O but that's great, so then you don't have to worry about that anymore and you can focus on the concert."

"Yes." Gina smiled. "It's so silly of me to feel so nervous, I don't even have solo, just the song with you and the other girls, and yet I'm so scared to mess it up."

Elisa laughed nervously at that, which didn't go unnoticed by Gina.

"What..what is it? You're acting weird.."

"Well uhm, you know Monica? Who'd sing Holy Night and Ave Maria tonight?"

Gina nodded.

"Yeah, well she's sick.."

"No! But she's the only soloist that's a soprano and can sing them!" Gina sad shocked, it really was a shame, those two songs would be the climax of the concert.

"Yes, I know..so I kinda said to the staff that I knew someone who could take her place."

"Who?"

"You!" Elisa said with her nicest smile.

"WHAT? Mee!? Why would you say such a thing!" Regina exclaimed.

"Because you can do it Gina! You're voice is brilliant, and you can sing so high and with such a warmth in your voice! Don't you see what I did here? I did you a huge favor! This will be your ultimate breakthrough!"

Gina shook her head. "No Elisa, I cannot do that, not without preparation, and there is no real time for that anymore, the concert starts in less than an hour from now!"

"Well you have to, because I already found a replacement for your part in the group song, and I told them to put your name on the play list, so it will only be really weird if you won't sing."

Gina swallowed, she really hated Elisa right now, but she knew she had to do it.

"Ok. I'll do it, but not because I want to, but because they are the two best songs of the night and therefore the two songs that will raise the most amount of money..That's why I'll do it, and if I go wrong, if I sing off key, if I forget the lyrics, and ruin the whole song, that will be your fault."

Elisa smiled and hugged Gina. "I knew you would do it. I'll leave you alone now, so you can 'mentally prepare'." and with that she left.

Gina sighed and grabbed her phone, she had to call Collin.

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"Hey mr. Bae!" Granny said as Aiden and his son entered the diner.

"Hello Granny, wow, you have a lot of customers tonight!"

"Yes, we all gathered here to watch the Christmas concert in Boston tonight." Granny said, which wasn't a total lie.

"We already hoped you would watch. We really want to see Gina's, Collin's girlfriend, performance." Aiden laughed.

"Hi Collin, nice to meet you, I hope you feel better?" Granny said as she held her hand out to Collin.

Collin shook the hand and smiled. "Thank you..granny. I do feel better yes."

"Well I'm glad to hear that, well, please take a seat, I believe the concert starts in a few minutes.

Aiden nodded and he and Collin walked to a booth behind the one Snow, David and Henry were sitting. Then Collin's phone rang.

"It's Gina." He said to his dad.

"How odd that's she's calling when the concert almost starts."Aiden said.

"Hi honey. How are you?"

"What? I can't here you, I'm in the diner and there are a lot of people here..wait a second."

"What is it Collin?" Aiden asked.

"I can't hear her, it's too noisy in here. I'll just go outside to talk to her.

"O no you won't, you're just released from the hospital and it's freezing outside, I don't want you to get back in there right away."

"But now I cannot hear what's wrong, and it seems she's pretty upset." Collin protested.

"Hey everyone! Can I please have your attention? My son here tries to have a conversation with his girlfriend on the phone, who will perform tonight in the concert as well by the way. But he cannot here her, and I don't want him to go outside because, as you all might know, he's just released from the hospital, so could you all please be quite for a second? I'm sure it won't take long."

Everyone in the diner stared at Aiden and Collin wished he wasn't here right now...this was so embarrassing and typically his father, assuming everyone would do all that just so he could call. But surprisingly they did (because they wanted to know where the conversation was about…).

"Of course, Mr. Bae. No problem" Granny said.

"Thanks." Collin said and he put the phone back to his ear.

"Gina, are you still there?"

_"Yes, and, I can't do it Collin! I'm a mess!"_

"Hold on, what can't you do? What's wrong?" The entire diner hold its breath, they all wanted to know 'what was wrong'.

_"Monica is sick, and now I have to do the two solo's, and I'm so scared!"_

"O but Gina, you'll be just fine! This is actually great, this might be your true breakthrough!"

_"But what if I mess up? What if I ruin the entire night? I have to __open__the concert for heaven's sake. And Hole Night isn't the easiest opening song."_

"Gina, don't worry. You're a great singer, actually you are an amazing singer. You'll blow them away. You can do this, trust me."

Gina sighed.

"Do you feel a little better now?"

_"I little..I'll do my best…Thank you….I love you."_

"I love you too. And now I'm going to end this call because the clock tells me you're up in three minutes."

Gina laughed _"Okay, Collin. Bye.."_

Collin sighed.

"What was it?" Aiden asked his son, the diner was still silent..

"She had stage fright. She suddenly has to do the opening number and another solo instead of the group number she would be doing. So she had a little nervous breakdown. But I think she's fine now."

"O it's beginning!" Granny said suddenly, and she turned up the sound of the television.

"We'll see." Aiden said and he turned towards the TV, his eyes met the eyes of Rumpelstiltskin who was sitting at the bar. He give a short nod and then paid attention to the television.

The music started, the audience applauded and slowly Gina entered the stage in a long cream colored gown, her hair up with some strings of hair gracefully falling down her face.

Collin gasped. "She's beautiful." he whispered. Aiden nodded.

The other people in the diner gasped too, not because they thought Regina was stunning, which she was by the way, but because they all saw this really was Regina, but..younger.

The music of Holy Night now started to play, and after the intro Gina started to sing.

First her voice was a little thin and wavering but after a few lines she visible let the music speak to her and she regained her confidence and sang louder with a beautiful voice, filled with warmth.

When the song ended the people in the diner didn't say a word.

Leroy was the first to say something eventually. "Wow..she sure can sing.."

"She was amazing." Henry said.

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When the concert had ended Emma waited at the backstage door to pick Regina up.

She didn't have to wait long before she saw the dark haired girl coming out of the building, together with some other girls her age, laughing and talking. After she'd said goodbye to them she waved at Emma and quickly ran to the yellow bug.

"Hi!" she said as she sat down. "Did you have a nice night?"

"Did I have a nice night!? You were amazing Gina! You absolutely nailed those two songs! I almost had to cry when you sang that second song."

Gina's face split into a big smile and she turned red.

"Really? Because I was so extremely nervous! It wasn't planned that I would sing those two songs, you know? I would only perform in a group number, it wasn't until half an hour before the concert started that they told me I had to do these two songs."

"Really? Well, that's quite amazing..I would have gone crazy, if they'd told me that." Emma said.

"O, I went crazy. But then I called Collin, and he gave me the strength to go up there and perform."Gina said.

Emma sighed once again, how could it be that one person could be so different from the person she once was, she thought.

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After the concert some citizens turned home, others stayed to have another drink and to talk about the concert. Aiden and Collin had left. Aiden had insisted that Collin would get some sleep, because he wasn't all fit just yet. So Granny had offered him her last spare room.

It was around midnight Emma and Gina arrived in Storybrooke again.

"Where do you stay Gina?"

Gina gasped. "Oo..I totally forgot. I don't really know! Last night I spend the night in the hospital, and I didn't really arrange something."

"Well we'l go to the diner then to see if Granny's still open and can offer you a room.

When they entered the diner the diner fell silent. Staring at Emma and Gina.

"Hi.." Emma said. "We're back and..wondering if Granny still has a room for Gina here. Since she forgot to arrange a place to stay this morning."

"O I'm so sorry. I just gave my last room to Collin, and..well it's a pretty small bed so I don't think you'll fit in there together." Granny said.

Gina blushed. "That's okay madam."

"Gina." Mr. Gold was the first to talk again, he was probably checking whether Regina would show any signs of recognition, Emma thought. "We all watched your performance tonight. That was quite something. Congratulations."

Gina looked up at the man that had walked from the bar and now held his hand out to her.

She smiled shyly and shook his hand. "Thank you, sir. I'm glad you liked it."

Gold smiled awkwardly, there was no sign of recognition in Regina's eyes at all. She was exactly the same as the girl he met so many years ago. Although, not exactly. That girl had asked him to get rid of her mother with such desperation and fear in her eyes. Fear and desperation and unhappiness lacked from the eyes of this girl. This was the Regina she would have been if he and Cora hadn't interfered, he thought. And somehow, he felt guilty.

"Well..if you don't have a place to stay for her Granny, then I guess you'll have to stay with me and Henry tonight, Gina."Emma said.

"O but I couldn't accept that Emma. You've done so much for me already! I wouldn't want to be a greater burden to you than I'm already am." Gina said.

The people in the diner slowly continued their conversations again, although the subject wasn't the concert anymore but rather the fact that their former Queen was standing right in front of them, but was nothing like herself.

"Well where would you stay if you didn't come with me? You can't stay with Collin." Emma said. "By the way I find it rather weird they didn't wait up for you."

"I think that's because they didn't think we would go back the same night." Regina said. "I think they assumed we would stay the night over at Boston."

Emma nodded.

"But you're right..I don't really know where else to go, so I'll go with you and Henry then." Regina said.

"Good. Then let's go, because frankly, I'm rather tired from all the driving, and I think your performance cost you a lot of energy too."

Gina laughed. "Yes, it did."

"Are you coming Henry?" Emma asked.

Henry nodded, and he left the booth he was sitting in with Snow and David and the dwarfs.

Together the three of them left the diner. Leaving the people in the diner behind, who now were free to discuss all that happened that last night out loud. And they had a lot to discuss….

**Y'all might wonder where Cora is in all this..well I'll get to that in the next chapter, don't worry ^^.**

**Please tell me what you think and review :D!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Thank you all so much for all the kind reviews! I'm very glad to read that you all like how I portrayed Regina in this story ****! It really motivates me to write more ****! So here's another chapter for you all. I hope you like it, it's pretty much fluff, but..well I thought fluff wouldn't be that bad..it's almost Christmas after all ^^! **

**Snow**

Cora sighed as she turned off the TV. That was her daughter. That beautiful girl, singing as beautifully as the stars in the sky shine. She felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes, it was only now that she truly understood what a bad mother she had been to Regina. This Regina had grown up without her guiding and look what she'd turned out be. Sure, being a singer wasn't the most secure future, Cora thought, and maybe it would be better for Regina if she'd go to college to actually learn a proper profession. But for now, she couldn't be more proud of her little girl. Cora sighed again. She'd really made a mess of everything. All those deals she'd made, with no less than Rumpelstiltskin, to make sure she could keep her daughter- in the end it had all been for nothing. She had lost her daughter after all..her little girl.

"Stop it Cora." She said to herself. She's back now. You've gotten a new chance here, a second chance. To change, to do better, and she would make sure she wouldn't lose her this time. Cora stood up from the chair she was sitting in, and took her glass to the kitchen to pour herself another drink. She watched out the window, it had started to snow, she watched the flakes fall down for a while when her eyes fell on the sheriff walking down the street, probably heading home. A few meters behind her was her son following with – Regina. They were talking animatedly. Cora smiled, this was good. If Regina and Henry were bonding that would give Regina more reason to return to Storybrooke once her boyfriend was released from the hospital. That boyfriend, that was something she wasn't too pleased about. It wouldn't hurt to figure out how serious Regina was about him, she thought, as her eyes followed the three walking until she couldn't see them anymore.

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Gina woke because her phone, laying on the night stand next to her bed, was ringing.

With her eyes still closed she blindly grabbed the phone guided by the sound the phone made and took the call.

"Hello?" She asked with a sleepy voice.

_"Hey honey! I'm sorry I woke you up, but I just couldn't wait anymore. I just had to call you to tell you how proud of you I am."_

Gina smiled. "Hm..why thank you Collin. But you could have told me last night if you'd have bothered to stay up and wait for me to get back."

_"Huh? I thought you were staying in Boston? Dad said he thought you would."_

"..well I didn't, Emma drove me back the same night."

_"But- then.. where are you staying now? Are you at Granny's too?"_

"No honey. She didn't have any more rooms left and she said your bed was too small for the two of us. But Emma and Henry let me stay with them."

_"Hm, well, if you'd ask me, the two of us would have fit in this bed together perfectly. But, I'm sorry Gina. If I'd known you would be back last night I would have stayed awake."_

"I know Collin. It's no problem. How are you feeling?" Gina smiled.

_"I'm feeling pretty good actually. My arm is itchy though."_

"I'm glad to hear that." She got out of bed and started to walk around her room while talking, she always did that when she was on the phone. "Do you think we can go home today?"

_"Uhm..yes I think we can. I didn't really speak about when we would head back with dad. It seems he's enjoying his stay here pretty much. He went out yesterday afternoon to lunch with someone from town and he returned from it in quite a good mood. But I'll- _

"O Collin! I don't think we'll be able to drive home today." Gina interrupted Collin, she had just opened the curtains to see what the weather was like today, and saw a thick pack of snow greeting her. " – It seems it has been snowing all night long..so driving has become pretty much impossible."

_"Really?"_

Gina heard some stumbling, she assumed Collin was getting out of bed now too.

_"Aaahaa…I see what you mean.. Well, I guess we'll extend our 'trip' for one or two days. Could be fun?"_

"But, no..you and Aiden have to get back to work. And think of all the classes I'm missing, and the rehearsals.."

_"Gina, listen to me. I survived a car accident, I'm sure everyone back home will understand that we have missed some days at work and that you haven't attended to your classes and rehearsals. And the weather..this snow…that's not our fault…Come on, let's just do something fun this day. Just the two of us. I've been so busy working and you with your study and musical that we haven't had very much..alone time, lately.. and I don't like that. You're much to adorable .."_

Gina blushed. "You're just saying that to get your way.." But she knew better, she knew he really loved her, and she liked hearing him say things like this so now and then. "- But..I surrender..that is..on once condition."

_"Tell me. I'll do anything."_

"Really? Anything?"

_"Anything. I'll always do anything you ask. Because I love you."_

"Yes, yes, don't push it sweetheart," she laughed, "but, the condition is, that you get up and dressed right now, and that we'll meet in front of the library in the centre of the city in half an hour."

_"Hm but Gina..I thought you could come here and we could stay inside and in bed all day being lazy and..maybe not so lazy at times too..?"_Collin whined.

"Yes, I know what _you_ thought. But I also know I almost had no place to go last night. So you'll just have to make up for that to me now…So we're making this an 'us'-day, but on my terms." She teased.

She heard her boyfriend sigh at the other end of the line.

_"Okay, you win. I'll meet you in front of the library in half an hour then…if you manage to get dressed in such a 'short time'…"_

"Pff, I can get dressed and be there in half an hour. You'll see." She huffed, and with that she ended the call and quickly went into the bathroom that was attached to her guestroom.

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"Wow. Look at you. All sporty." Collin laughed when he saw Gina running towards him in a red winter coat, matching hat and nice warm snow boots.

"Yes, Emma was up already and she lend me this."

"That's nice of her." Collin said as he put his hands deeper into his pockets.

"Don't you have gloves?"

Collin shook his head. "No I don't, but this is just fine."

"No way Collin. It isn't, you're just released from the hospital, I don't want you to get back there immediately because you don't wear gloves now."

"Pff. you sound just like my dad last night." Collin huffed.

"Come, we'll go to the boutique of Mrs. Mills to get you a nice warm pair of gloves and maybe a hat too." She said, ignoring his last comment and pulling his arm.

Instead of going with her he grabbed her arm with his other hand and pulled her towards him, snaked his arms around her waist and kissed her.

She smiled and then kissed him back.

"Please, get a room!" someone shouted.

Gina broke the kiss as she looked around, irritated, to find whoever had said that. She saw a man standing on the other side of the road. She thought his name was Leroy.

"Well, we could do that, or you could just look the other way.. Mind your own business or something!" She said to the man.

Collin laughed, Gina wasn't often like this, but when she was, you had to watch out.

"Come on, Gina." he said before the man could shout anything insulting back to her. "Let's go to the boutique of this Mrs. Mills."

Gina sighed then nodded and walked with Collin towards the shop, leaving Leroy and the other citizens who had followed the little scene behind.

Leroy immediately walked up to Snow, who had been out as well. "See," he said, "She's still as short tempered and evil as she always was."

But Snow shook her head. "No, no she isn't. She just felt embarrassed and dealt with it like this. The old Regina would have neglected you and got back at you when you'd been off guard." Snow said, and with that she walked past Leroy, confused…

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Cora turned around at the sound of the door bell. Her face lit up when she saw Regina, and Collin, enter her shop. "Gina, Collin, how can I help you?" Cora said with a smile as she walked towards the two young people.

"Hello Mrs. Mills, We – "

"O please, Gina, I told you you could call me Cora, please do."

Gina blushed. "Well, okay. Mrs- Cora. We're here because Collin doesn't have any gloves, and it's way too cold outside right now to walk without them."

Cora smiled. "You're right. I was just opening the boxes of a new arrival of men's gloves in the back. I'll just go and get them for you. I think a size M will do for you." Cora lied as she turned around to go to the back of the store, grabbing a pair of M-sized gloves from one of the shelves on her way. There weren't any new arrivals. She just wanted to see Regina and the boy interact when they were alone..to see..how it was. If she was the same with him as she had been with that stable boy.

She stayed in the back of the store for a few minutes before she decided to silently return to see what the two were doing. Her lips pursed a little as she saw her daughter kissing the boy, while he held her in a tight embrace. Cora knew true love when she saw it, and the way her daughter stared at this Collin, and the way he stared back told her these two were serious about each other. And she didn't like that… No, stop it Cora, she thought to herself, don't think like that. The last time you tried to interfere with matters like these everything went wrong. If this was what made Regina happy, then who was she to stand in their way..and this time..she meant it.

She set a few steps forward and coughed discreetly to make her presence noticed. Quickly Gina and Collin broke their kiss and set a step away from each other. Cora walked towards the two with a pair of grey gloves in her hands. "Here you go, let's see how these will do."

Collin took the gloves from her and tried them on. "They fit perfectly, I'll buy them Cora." Collin said with a smile, and for a moment Cora thought she saw something familiar in that smile, it made her think of Rumpelstiltskin, which was weird..so she let the thought trail off just as easily as it had come to her.

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When Gina and Collin had said goodbye to Cora and left the shop they ran into Henry on their way to the forest. "Henry!" Gina said happily. "How are you? Thanks again for letting me stay with you and your mom tonight." Henry smiled. "That's no problem Gina."

"So..what are you up to today?" She asked him nicely.

"Hm, don't know. There is no school because of all the snow..so I thought I would just take a walk or something."

Gina frowned, she didn't really understand why he wasn't with his friends or something.

"Do you want to go with us? We're planning on taking a walk through the forest, maybe trying to find a frozen lake or something so we can stand on the ice or so…Just have some fun..you know?"She smiled.

Henry looked surprised at her.."Uhm..well yeah. I know a few places here that can be fun when there's as much snow and when it's so cold like this." He began.

"Well great. Then let's go together." Gina said.

Henry smiled. "Okay. We'll have to go that way, follow me." He said as he started walking.

"Gina, what the h- I thought this day would be just the two of us ?" Collin said a little bit angry.

"O stop it Collin. You sound like a girl this way. The boy is lonely, and I don't understand..I like him, and he's actually quite funny so why not let him join us."

Collin sighed. "Pff, if you say so."

Gina smiled as she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her as she started walking in the direction Henry pointed. "Yes. I say so." She smiled.

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**Tadaa..not as long a chapter as you're used to get from me..but I hope you all still liked it. **

**What I wanted to ask you..**

**How would you like to see the relationship between Gold and Baelfire developing?**

**I realize the story is at the moment pretty much free of any villains or bad guys…Do you want to see that changed ( I do..) and if you do, who would you want to see turn bad ;)?**

**Please REVIEW and I wish you all a very very VERY Merry Christmas ^^!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone!**

**I'm very happy with all your reviews again. It really makes me happy to read them ****!**

**I hope you all had a lovely Christmas ****?**

**Here's another chapter for you all, longer than the lost one, enjoy ^^.**

**Mario Kart**

"News travels fast in this town I noticed." Aiden says as he enters his father's shop.

"Bae, hi. What do you mean?" Rumpel asked as he stepped away from his counter to greet his son.

"When I came into the diner this morning, I noticed the eyes of the people in the diner were all on me before everyone returned to their own business again. I felt rather uneasy, so I asked Granny what was wrong, if there was something going on or something. First she didn't want to tell me..but eventually she admitted that the rumor was going that I was your son."

Rumpel sighed and nodded. "News sure travels fast..although I don't really know how they could have find out. What did you tell her?"

"I wasn't sure what to do at first, but eventually I told her that the rumor was true. That I am indeed your son, but that we haven't seen each other in over thirty years, and that it's complicated. I believe she understood." As Aiden said this he saw a flicker of pain flash in Rumpelstiltskin's eyes.

Gold nodded. "I guess that will do. There will be questions and I guess Snow and David will want to know more about this, but it's okay for now."

Aiden nodded too. "Yes, but still, I don't like that it's out now. I haven't even told Collin or Gina yet. It would have been better if we'd have had more time."

"I'm sorry." Both Aiden and Gold looked in the direction the voice had come from, seeing Belle standing in a door opening.

"What are you sorry for Belle?" Gold asked.

"I- I may have told Ruby about you."

Gold let out a heavy sighed. "Well that might have not been the smartest thing to do, now was it?"

"I'm sorry." Belle said again.

Aiden smiled. "Don't worry Belle. What's done is done. But I better get to Collin and Gina now, before they get the story from someone else."

"Are you going to tell them everything?" Belle asked.

Aiden shook his head. "No. Just that I found my father. Nothing about the whole fairytale thing. They wouldn't believe me anyways."

Gold smiled, his son had no idea about the irony of his words. "That's fine. I'll tell Snow and Charming at the next city council meeting that they have to let everyone know they have to keep their mouth shut about the magic here."

"Thanks Rumpel." Aiden said. "I better be going now to tell Collin the news." He waved at Belle and then left the shop.

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"Watch it! Watch it! My arm!" Collin laughed as he tried to avoid being hit by a snow ball Gina threw at him.

"You should have thought about that before you decided to throw one my way dear." His girlfriend laughed back.

"Yes, well, do you know how much effort it cost me to make that snow ball with only one hand?"

"Well you shouldn't have done it then in the first place." Gina teased as she started to gather snow for another snow ball. It was then that she got hit by a snow ball in her back.

"Hey!?" she cried out. "What the hell?" She looked behind her and she saw Henry standing a few meters away, grinning at her with another snow ball in his hands.

"Oh boy..you're gonna get it!" Gina said as she turned around and threw the snow ball she had been making his way, hitting him right in the face. Both she and Collin laughed at the shocked face Henry made while he was wiping the snow out of his eyes.

"Okay, I guess I deserved that." Henry then said.

"Yes you did." Gina said triumphantly. "But how about we get back to Granny's? I'm getting kinda hungry, it must be noon I guess."

"Yeah, a nice lunch at Granny's wouldn't be too bad." Collin agreed.

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The three entered the diner with loud laughing. "Oh this is so much better. I was so cold!" Gina exclaimed as she plopped down in one of the booths, Collin went to sit next to her and Henry on the other side of the table. "Yes, it's pretty cold." Henry agreed.

The door of the diner opened again and Aiden came in.

"Hi dad!" Collin said and he waved at his father.

Aiden smiled. "Hi guys. Mind if I join you?"

"No not at all." Gina smiled. Aiden went to sit next to Henry. "Did you have a nice day so far?"

"Yes, we made a walk through the forest and played a little with the snow."Henry said.

"Ah, well that's nice." Aiden said, but he hadn't really heard what Henry had said. His mind was reeling about what was the best way to tell his son and daughter in law the news.

"Dad, are you listening? Is everything okay?"

"Uhm. Yes, yes everything is alright. I just.. have to tell you something and I was thinking what would be the best way."

"Uhm, do you want me to go so you can talk to Gina and Collin in private?" Henry asked.

"No, no. It's alright. You'll hear about what I'm going to say soon enough, so it's better to get the story first hand I think." Aiden said.

"What is it, Aiden. Please tell us." Gina said, worry clearly audible in her voice.

"Well. When you were in the hospital, Collin, I ran into a man here in the diner. He's called Mr. Gold."

"The one from the shop?" Collin asked.

"Yes, indeed, the one from the shop. But he is not just a pawnbroker to me." Aiden continued. "This Mr. Gold is also my father."

Henry's eyes grew wide at this statement. If Rumpelstiltskin was Mr. Bae's father, then this was the man who had caused Rumpelstiltskin to become the dark one. And then his mom was dating Rumpelstiltskin's grandson..which was..very very weird. Not to mention the fact that Mr. Bae knew about the curse and magic and all.

"Wow. Dad. That's…wow." Collin said.

"I thought you said your father was dead, mister Bae." Gina asked.

Aiden nodded. "I thought he was Gina, I thought I would never see him again. So I was very shocked when I saw him in the diner." Aiden said, and it wasn't a total lie. He really had thought he would never see his father again.

"Can I- can we meet him?" Collin asked.

Aiden smiled, happy that his son took the news so well. "Yes, yes of course you can. We could go there after lunch if you want to?"

"Uhm..I'll let you two go alone." Gina said. "I think this is something you should do alone."

Aiden nodded understandingly.

"No, you should come too Gina." Collin said. "You're, you're my family too."

Gina smiled as she put a hand on Collin's arm. "Thank you Collin. But really, you should go alone with your dad. I'll meet your grandfather another time. I'll just hang out with Henry or something, right Henry?"

"Uhm, yes that's ok." Henry said, he really didn't know what else to say. He had had a wonderful day with Regina so far, but it still was a bit weird to him to be sitting here with her. To be throwing snow balls at his mom without her getting mad, to hear her talk like a teenager.

The fact that Aiden hadn't said a word about the curse or magic being in Storybrooke told Henry that he probably didn't want them to know. And Henry couldn't blame him for that. They probably wouldn't believe him anyways.

"Well, that's settled then." Gina said. "But I have one more question. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'm a bit worried about school and work and everything."

Collin sighed heavily. "Gina, I thought we'd talked about this."

"Yes well. I just didn't think your answer was good enough." She snapped. "I mean, I have finals right after Christmas break, so all the classes I miss now mean I have to study more during break."

Henry smiled, there still was something familiar in this Gina he now saw.

"Well Gina, don't worry about that." Aiden said. "Christmas break is only a week away. I don't think you'll miss that much."

"That's what I said." Collin said triumphantly.

Gina sighed. "Well I guess you two are right then. But don't blame me when I get all stressed and mean to you the week before my finals. That's your own doing."

Aiden laughed. "We won't dear."

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"So..What do you want to do?" Gina asked when Collin and Aiden had left.

"Uhm, well I don't really feel like going outside anymore, it's kinda cold. But we could play some video games at my place or something?" Henry asked.

"What kind of game?"

"We could play uhm..Mario kart or something? Or do you think that's to childish?"

"No I love that game!" Gina exclaimed.

Henry smiled. "Mario Kart it is then." He said. "O but, I believe that game is still at my grandparents'. We can play there too? They're both rather busy, with David being sheriff like Emma and Snow the mayor of this town." Gina nodded. "Fine with me. Let's go." she said and she stood up from the booth and took her coat.

"Okay, make yourself comfortable on the couch I'd say. I'll get the game."Henry said as they entered the apartment with the key Snow had given him once.

Just as Gina sat down she heard someone calling from a room other than the living room she was in.

"Henry? Is that you?" and not long after that she saw the mayor, coming from one of the rooms, into the living room.

Gina stood up from the couch again. Henry turned away from the pile of games he had been searching through.

"O, Snow! I'm sorry, I thought you would be at work, so Gina and I could play Mario Kart here."

Snow smiled awkwardly. "Well, my there isn't very much to do with this snow, so I gave myself a day off."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Nolan. We didn't want to bother you. We'll go." Gina apologized.

Snow seemed to think about the offer for a second. She didn't really like the idea of Regina in her house, she had to admit that. But on the other hand, this wasn't Regina, this was someone else. And if Henry had invited her here, and apparently had decided to spend time with her, then who was she to ruin that.

"No, no, it's okay. You two can stay here if you want to. I'll just go sit in the kitchen."

"Thanks grandma." Henry said happy. "I found the game, who do you want to be?" He asked Gina as he plopped down on the couch Gina had sat back on again.

"Uhm..the girl in the pink dress. I like her." Gina smiled.

"Princess Peach." Henry stated.

"Yes, exactly."

Henry had started the game up in a second and it didn't take long before the sound of racing cars could be heard from the room.

Snow tried to mind her own business and read her newspaper, but she found herself time and time again watching the two kids on the couch racing against each other.

"O yeah I beated you again!" Gina exclaimed.

"You just wait! I'll get back at you in the next race." Henry said back.

It was then that Gina's phone went off.

"Gina Moulin." She said as she took the call, not recognizing the number.

"Really?"

"Why thank you, madam!"

"Yes, yes of course. In January? O January 10th. I'll be there."

"Thank you so much again."

As Gina put out the phone she let herself fall back on the couch as she let out a scream of happiness.

"What? What? Who was that?" Henry asked curiously.

Snow had by this time stopped even pretending to be reading her newspaper. This side of Regina she'd never seen before. She was watching a schoolgirl, this Gina couldn't be any more different from the Evil Queen.

"_That_, that was someone from the Christmas concert. She, she was so pleased with my performance that she's offered me the opportunity to come audition for a musical she's going to produce..on Broadway!" She exclaimed.

"Wow. That's pretty cool!" Henry said.

"Pretty cool? It's _amazing_! This is my chance! O my god I can't believe it." Gina said back.

"Snow? Can I use your phone to call Collin? My phone hasn't much credit anymore."

"Yes of course you can." Snow smiled, she couldn't help but feel happy for the girl in front of her.

Gina jumped up from the couch and practically ran to the phone on the wall and quickly dialed the number of Collin's cell.

"Hi Collin. I got amaz-Ha- What? O noo!"

"How much is the damage? O my god no! And now? O. Yes. Yes that seems best yes. Well I guess I'll have to find a place here for a little longer then. When are you leaving? Right now? But can't you come to say goodbye? O, yes I understand. Can you send some of my stuff up here then? O.. Okay. Love you too. Bye."

Gina put the phone back and frowned as she turned back to the couch.

"Is everything alright Gina?" Snow asked. She had watched the face of the girl closely during the call, and had seen it change from utter happiness to a worried face.

"No. Mr. Bae just got a call from our neighbors back home. Apparently the snow has been even worse there, causing a huge leak. The water damage seems to be very bad, so bad that we can't live in the house as it is right now and apparently all my stuff is ruined by the water too. My clothes, my study books, my dancing shoes, everything. So Collin and Mr. Bae are going there right now. And apparently there isn't time to say goodbye or something, so I'm supposed to stay here until they get back." She said.

"Oh no." Snow said genuinely concerned. "But, you live with your boyfriend and his father then?"

"Yes..uhm..I don't have parents, and..when I met Collin and Mr. Bae I didn't really have a home or something, so they offered me to stay with them." Gina said, her voice had become very little while she was saying this and she held her eyes fixed on the ground as she leaned against the wall of the apartment.

Henry met Snow's eyes and he saw the worry in her eyes, they said the same as what he was thinking. What had happened to Regina after she had crossed the border? Who was this girl that wanted to become a singer more than anything, but apparently had to live with her boyfriend and his dad because there was no one else to take care of her?

"And on top of that you forgot to tell him about your audition." Henry said.

Gina shook her head. "Well, I don't think I'll do the audition now anyways. It's a very big part, you have to dance, sing and act, and here I don't have sheet music, I don't have my piano, my dancing shoes, or my stuff whatsoever, and I don't have a place to practice."

"Well. That can all be fixed." Snow said firmly as she stood up from the bar stool she was sitting on and walked to Gina. "First we're going to find you a place to stay, then we'll buy you some new clothes and other necessary stuff, and then we'll go to the local theatre to see if you can practice there somewhere."

"You have a theatre here?" Gina asked surprised.

"Yes we have." Snow smiled. "It isn't used much though, I believe, so I'm pretty sure you can find a place to practice there. If you want we can go take a look at it right now?"

"I'd love that." Gina said happily.

"Wow, who lives in that mansion?" Gina asked as they drove past the former mayors mansion while they were on their way to the local sports store to get Gina a new pair of dancing shoes.

"Uhm..no one lives there." Henry said quickly.

"Why is that? It's such a beautiful house."

_Well that's because it should be the mayor's house but since Snow can't stand living there without being reminded of you as the Evil Queen all the time no one lives in it now_. Henry thought.

"It's a very old house, you wouldn't say that from the outside. But it's so old it's dangerous to live in." Snow lied and Gina seemed to be okay with that answer.

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_Earlier that day_

"Rumpelstiltskin!"

"Cora. What an unpleasant surprise." Gold said as he saw the dark haired woman storm into his shop.

Cora ignored his teasing and walked up to him until she was standing right before him.

"Is it true?"

"You have to be a little bit more specific, I'm afraid..is _what_ true?"

"The rumor everyone is talking about. That the father of Collin is your son?" Cora asked angrily.

"O that, well yes, that's the truth."

Cora sighed heavily and turned away from Gold.

"Then…then _my daughter_ is dating _your grandson_." She stated.

"I'm afraid that's true to, although I can't say I'm too pleased about that."

"Why would _you_ be not too please about that. My daughter is much better than any of your kind deserves. However, I'm not pleased, to say the least, about Regina seeing someone from _your _family!"

"Well, dearie. It is that we both want the same thing, if not I wouldn't have let you get away with what you just said about me and my family." Gold growled.

Cora smiled deviously. "Well, how lucky am I then, that we both want the same thing…Break those two apart.."

Gold nodded.

"Yes. But we're not going to do this your way. The last time you tried to keep your daughter's boyfriend away from her didn't work out exactly fine."

Cora huffed. "Well what do you suggest?"

"I suggest we let my son and grandson see who their Gina really is."

"They'll never believe you."

"Not if we just tell them. But they will believe us if we show them the memories I have of the Evil Queen. The memories of how she ripped out people's hearts, how she killed people, destroyed lives."

Cora smiled a devious smile again. "I like that thought. When are you planning on doing so?"

"Bae and his son are coming to see me in an hour, I say we'll show them then." Gold stated.

Cora nodded approvingly. "Are you going to show them everything?" She then asked.

"No, no of course not. Only the parts where you can see Regina being pure evil."

"Not the parts that show you helping her to become like that." Cora stated.

"No. Not those parts..nor the parts where you were hitting her and abusing her when she was younger." He shot back.

Cora's face darkened. "Well. Let's do it then." Was the only thing she said.

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"Did she buy the story?" Aiden asked his son as he was keeping his eyes on the road.

Collin nodded. "Yes, yes she did." He sighed. "I still can't believe all of this dad. Magic? Fairy tales? Are you sure this isn't all world's worst prank ever?"

"No Collin. It's all true." Aiden said, his eyes still on the road. "It's all true. And that's why you also have to believe that Gina is dangerous."

"I don't believe that. I mean, come on! She's lived with us for over two years now, did you ever see something evil about her? Gina is the nicest person I've ever met, she wouldn't harm a flie!"

"I agree that the Gina we got to know seems someone totally different from the Gina we saw in those memories. But that doesn't mean she can't be dangerous Collin. What we saw were memories, not dreams or made up stories. They are things that have actually happened, and what I saw, what we saw, was a dangerous woman. And I don't want you near someone like that. I don't care if she doesn't know who she is anymore, or that she seems to be different now. The fact remains that Gina, or Regina as we should call her from now on, still has that dark side in her somewhere. And I don't want to be around when that dark side resurfaces, nor do you. The land that I come from is nothing like this world, Collin. It's much harder, much more cruel, it's…medieval… and so are its inhabitants and the way they act."

Collin said nothing at this, and it was quite for a while.

"I still can't believe it." He then said. "And I really hate you for forcing me to come with you, without even saying her a proper goodbye! And what about your dad? You just found him and now we left, so you can't visit him anymore? And Gina still thinks we're coming back for her, when you're clearly planning not to. How are you going to fix that?"

"Enough Collin! One: I didn't force you, but I simply can't allow you to throw away your future and expose yourself to danger like that."

"Do you even hear what you're saying here!? You're talking about Gina as if she's a monster. And you _did_ force me, because telling me you'll cut off all my allowances and will go as far as to disinherit me!?"

"Two: My father can come to us to visit us, we don't have to go to him." Aiden said, ignoring his son's outburst. "And three. You'll just have to break up with her over the phone one of these days."

"I-.. Wow that's just… I want to get out." Collin said. "Stop the car. I want to get out. NOW!"

But they were driving on the high way now, and his father didn't stop, so all Collin could do was sit in the car next to his dad while his mind was trying to find a way to get back to Gina. Or Regina, as her real name was apparently.

**So. there you go ****! Another chapter for you all ^^. Tell me what you think…in a REVIEW :D!**

**I'll see if I can update once more before December 30****th**** (when I leave for Rome for a couple of days). If not an update will come after January 4****th****.**

**x**

**Metope**


	10. Chapter 9

**Well there you go, another chapter already! I didn't really feel like studying today so I quit early and started to write some more ^^. I hope you like it :D!**

**Pointe shoes**

"And? How do they fit?" Henry asked as Gina tried on a pair of dancing shoes. Carefully she stood up from the bench she was sitting on and walked a few steps on the pointe shoes she was wearing.

"They seem to be just fine." She said. Slowly she rose one of her legs till her knee and then did a few pirouettes, her face grimaced from pain as she quickly sat back on the bench.

"What is it Gina?" Snow asked worried.

"O nothing, Mrs Nolan. It's just, these shoes aren't the most comfortable shoes to wear, you know, and they aren't broken in yet. So it hurts a little to dance on them. I think I'll buy new toe pads too, to ease the pain."

"But if it hurts, then how can you dance?" Henry asked. "Wow look at your toes! They're bleeding!" He then exclaimed when Gina put the shoes off again.

Gina laughed. "O that's nothing. It's actually quite normal. I haven't danced for a while so my toes got spoiled and now they're complaining that I'm putting them in those shoes again by bleeding. And as for the pain..that will go away once I have broken in the shoes. So don't you worry."

"Hm, well I think it's weird." Henry huffed.

Gina just smiled as she put her own shoes on again.

After Gina had paid for the shoes they left the shop again and walked to Snow's car.

"Hello? Earth to Gina? Are you there?" Henry said to Gina.

"Huh what? Sorry Henry I didn't hear you."

"Well that was kinda obvious yes. I asked you where you wanted to go now. To the theatre or to the boutique to get some clothes and stuff like that."

"Uhm..well I really need some new clothes so that I won't have to walk around in Emma's clothes all the time. So I guess a visit to Cora's shop would be best to do first." Gina replied, and Snow nodded approving.

"I'm sorry that I didn't reply to you first. I was thinking about home..and…that I find it weird they couldn't say goodbye or something to me before they left."

"I think they just wanted to get there as soon as possible." Snow said. "I know I would if I got a call my whole house was flooded."

"Yes..I guess." Gina said as she stepped in the car.

"Hello Mrs. Mills." Snow greeted Cora formally.

"Mrs. Nolan, Gina, Henry, what can I do for you." Cora asked.

"Turns out I'm going to stay here a little longer." Gina answered. "Mr. Bae and Collin got a call from home that our house has a lot of water damage because of the snow. So they went over there to take care of things and asked me to stay here. So since I can't keep walking around in someone else's clothes all the time, I'm here to buy myself some new clothes."

Cora smiled. _They left already_, she thought, _Their plan had obviously worked then..now the wait was only for Collin to break up with Regina_.

"O dear. Well just look around and if I can help you with anything just ask." She said in her nicest voice causing Snow and Henry to frown. Cora was much too nice to Regina for their taste.

"Thank you Cora." Gina said, as she started to search through the clothing racks, Snow and Henry followed.

"What kind of clothes do you like?" Snow asked. "So we can help you search."

"Uhm..it shouldn't be too girly, you know. I don't really like dresses and skirts that much." Gina said.

Henry tried to hide a smile behind his hand at this, mayor Regina hadn't worn anything but pencil skirts, dresses and power suits. Snow nodded seriously, but Henry could see in her eyes that she thought it was funny too.

It didn't take long before Snow and Gina were both carrying a pile of clothes and decided to head to the fitting room -Henry had decided to sit down by this time.

"What do you think?" Gina asked as she stepped out of the fitting room again, wearing a dark washed jeans, a slightly baggy grey t-shirt and a black leather jacket, she had done her hair up in a loose ponytail so it wouldn't bother her when she changed her clothes.

Henry almost choked on the gum he was chewing. Gina turned to him. "Not good?"

He shook his head. "No, no that's not it. It's just, you look very much like…my mom."

"Like Emma?" Gina asked surprised.

"Yes, Henry has a point. My daughter used to wear nothing but leather jackets when she was younger." Snow agreed.

"Well, then I'll take this outfit. Because I like Miss Swan." Gina smiled as she went back in the fitting room.

Cora had been looking at the three from a distance, holding a plate with tea and coffee. She really had to do something about her daughter's taste in clothes, because these leather jackets were just awful. She then walked to Snow and Henry with the plate.

"I thought you might want something to drink while waiting for Gina to get through all these clothes?" She said with a smile.

Henry looked up at Snow, and when his grandma nodded that it was okay, he jumped up to pour himself a cup of tea. "Thanks Mrs. Mills." He said happily.

"What's that sound?" Henry then asked.

"O that's me! That's my phone!" Gina called from the fitting room.

"Hi Collin. Is everything okay? Did you have a safe trip?" They heard Gina's voice from the fitting room.

"H-..wh..what? I- I don't understand."

It was quite for a while. _He must be breaking up with her now. Which is perfect because I'm right her to pick up the pieces,_ Cora thought.

"If this is a joke Collin, you better cut it out right now…" Silence again "…But why? I- But I _love_ you, and you..and we.."

Then it was quite again. "Gina, is everything alright?" Snow asked worried, it didn't seem to her like Regina had just had a good conversation. She didn't get an answer though.

"Gina dear, what's wrong? You can tell us." Cora said sweetly, causing her to get suspicious glares from Snow and Henry.

Then suddenly Gina stormed out of the fitting room, she wore her own – or actually Emma's- clothes again, tears were in her eyes and falling down her face. "I got to go." she mumbled as she ran past them and left the shop.

"Gina!?" Snow called after her, but without any use, the girl had left already.

"I think I know what's wrong." Henry said. He had gone into the fitting room and held Gina's cell phone up, which she apparently had forgotten to take with her. Snow looked at him questioningly.

"There's a text here from Collin that she just received, saying: "I'm sorry Gina, but this seems the best thing to do. I simply don't love you anymore. So it's better to end it now than to lead you on any longer. Collin."

"O my god." Snow stated. "The poor girl." She then turned to Cora whose face had become very white and eyes big of shock.

"Why do I get the feeling you have something to do with this." Snow said as she set a step in Cora's direction.

"How can I have something to do with this." Cora snapped back. "I hardly know my daughter as she is right now. I assure you, I have no hand in this." The woman lied. "I'm just as shocked about this as you two are." And that wasn't a total lie. It really had been a shock for her to see her daughter like this, her eyes filled with so much pain.

"Well, instead of accusing everyone, we'd rather go after her." Henry stated. Snow nodded.

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"Hey Gina. What are you doing here? What's wrong?"

Gina was sitting cross legged on a bench somewhere in the Storybrooke forest. She looked up to see who was talking to her, wiping the tears she had been shedding from her face.  
"Emma." She whispered. Emma walked from the forest path to the bench and went to sit next to her.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

Gina opened her mouth but she just couldn't find the strength to tell her that Collin had broken up with her. That he too had left her. Instead she suddenly leaned her head against Emma's started to cry again.

"Okay, you just have a good cry first. Then you can tell me." Emma said a little surprised, as she put her arms around Gina, holding the girl while heartbreaking sobs escaped her mouth.

When the crying slowly stopped and Gina managed to even her breath a little she sat back up again and stared at Emma. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Hey, no problem. Clearly something pretty bad has happened to you, and you just needed to venture. That's fine you know. But, do you want to tell me what it is you're so upset about?"

Gina looked down to her shoes. "It's Collin." She then said. "He- He broke up with me..over the _phone_."

"Oh no.." was the only thing Emma could think of to say, to shocked to say anything else.

"You sure you didn't misunderstand?" She tried.

Gina shook her head. "No, he made it very clear. He said he didn't love me anymore. That our house didn't have any water damage because of snow fall at all, but this way it was just easier to tell me he wanted to end things. He said he didn't want to have any contact with me anymore whatsoever, and that he wasn't going to send my stuff to me either because he had already thrown all of it out of the house."

"THAT's what the bastard said!?" Both Emma and Gina looked up to see the comment was coming from Snow, who was walking together with Henry _and_ Cora walking in their direction.

Gina started to cry again. "I just don't understand. Only this morning he was telling me how much he loved me, and how he wanted to stay in bed with me all day.." – Cora let out a small cough at this, not wanting to think of her daughter in bed with anyone at all - ..and now he's like _this_."

Emma put her arm around Gina once again looking to Snow with worried eyes. She didn't really know what to do.

"Well honey, listen to me." Snow said, surprising both Henry, Emma and herself by calling her former nemesis honey. "You'll just have to forget about that boy. Men are…pigs."

"Hey..!"Henry said displeased.

"Well not _all_ men, of course."Snow nuanced her statement, "But a lot of them are. And..this Collin seems to be a the biggest pig in the world at the moment. So you shouldn't give him the satisfaction of being so upset about this."

Gina stood up from the bench."But you don't _understand_!" She now yelled. "I have absolutely _nowhere _to go now! Collin wasn't just my boyfriend. Collin and Aiden, they are- they _were_ my family! Their home was my home! Now I'm all alone. _AGAIN!_ I have no family, no home, _nothing_! You can't possibly understand that!"

Emma walked up to Gina now. "Listen to me Gina." I know exactly what this feels like. I went through something very similar to what you're going through now, once. And I know you're feeling lost now, and you're scared, and you're incredibly hurt. But I promise you, it will get better." Emma said as she put her hands on Gina's shoulders.

"And how is that?" Gina asked with a tearstained face.

"Because, you're not alone." Cora stated. "We all know you now for only a couple of days, but I'm sure I speak for everyone if I say we all already like you very much. And we'll take care of you."

"Yeah-…what Cora says." Emma said as she looked confused at the older woman, this was very unlike Cora. What was the woman up to, she thought.

"You can stay in my guestroom for as long as you want to." Emma said.

"Oh but I couldn't." Gina said."I would be a burden to you all the time. You're house isn't that big." She blushed at this. "And not that I want a big house or something, but I just mean to say that I would be a burden to you and Henry so easily. And you've helped me so much already."

Before Emma could tell Gina she was talking nonsense Cora walked up to Gina and took her hand. "You can move in with me, dear. If you want to. I live in a rather big house all by myself. A little company wouldn't be too bad."

Emma looked at Snow with panic in her eyes seeing the same worry in her mother eyes as she had. Regina living with Cora again didn't seem to be the best solution. Although Cora seemed to have changed, especially based on her behavior of the last few days, letting Gina go with Cora seemed like putting oil on fire.

"O but Cora, Gina won't be a burden to me at all. Henry and I would love to have you in with us, Gina." She therefore quickly said.

But Gina shook her head. "No Emma. You've done so much for me already, I can't ask you to take me in with you too. You're the sheriff of this town which is a responsible and demanding job, and you have a teenage son, I'm sure you don't want an instable 19 year old who just has her heart broken to be added to that… But if Cora has a spare room, and doesn't mind, as she says, the company, I'd be happy to stay with her."

Cora smiled at this while she saw Snow gesturing to Emma to 'do something about it', from the corner of her eye.

Emma, however, didn't really know what to bring in against Gina's statement. "Well, if that's what you want.." She therefore said, causing Snow to sigh and Henry to frown and send her an angry look.

"It is." Gina said, her breath still a bit shaky from all the crying.

"Well I'm glad to have you, Gina." Cora said _you can't imagine how glad I am she thought…_

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_Three weeks later_

"I'm so nervous!"

"When did they say they'd call you?" Emma asked.

She was sitting with Gina, Henry, Snow, Ruby and Ashley in Granny's diner. The past weeks had went actually quite well. Christmas and New Year's eve had passed without any problems and Gina seemed to have found her place in the town too. At first she'd been terrible sad and depressed, of course, and Emma could see that she still wasn't totally over it. But she was trying, and that was good. She had even made some friends among the towns people. Which was a major achievement Emma thought. Ruby and Ashley had been the first to be able to put their complaints aside, and try to get to know this new Regina. And look where they were now, sitting all together at Granny's waiting for Gina's phone to ring. It had been a few days since Gina had auditioned for the Broadway Musical, and today she would hear if she'd gotten the part.

"After three o'clock. And it's five minutes after now." Gina answered. "I'm sure that I blew it. I was so nervous when I had to audition, I wasn't as near as good as I could have been."

"Gina, don't think like that. Don't think in worst case scenario's. Just wait for the phone call. You'll drive yourself crazy like this." Ashley said.

Just as Gina wanted to reply her phone rang.

"Gina Moulin. Yes. Okay. O, really? Why, thank you very much. Yes I'll make sure to be prepared. I'll see you then. Bye."

"And?" Henry asked curiously.

"Well, they have split the role. So two actresses will be playing the part. But only one of them can do the première…and that one is ME!" She screamed happily.

"That's great Gina!" Snow said smiling. "I say we all have to have a drink on that from me."

"Does that mean I can have a drink too. Like, a _real_ drink?" Henry tried.

They all laughed at that. "No way josé." Emma said laughing.

After they had finished their drinks Gina stood up from the booth.

"I'm going home now to tell Cora that I passed." She said.

"Okay honey. I'm sure she'll be very pleased." Snow said, although she actually wasn't too sure of that at all.

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"Hi honey. Did you have a good time with your friends?" Cora asked sweetly as Gina came home.

"Yes I did. I got the part, Cora! I got it! I have to share the part, though, but I can do the première." She laughed as she ran to Cora, she stopped right in front of the older woman, not sure if she could give the woman a hug. Something in her wanted to, but they only knew each other for a few weeks now, she wasn't sure if it would be too inappropriate.

Cora saw the hesitation in her daughters eyes and, being not the type of woman for hugs and kisses, she walked up to Gina and took Gina's hands in her hands.

"Well that's great Gina."

"Great? It's amazing! I'm going to star on Broadway! That's what I've always wanted and – "

"But what about your study? I don't suppose you can continue that while you're in rehearsals and have to perform?"

"Uhm, no I don't think I can do both no. But, to be honest, I didn't really like what I was studying for a while now. As much as I love animals, I don't really want to become a vet."

"But being a vet means you will have a secure income once you've finished your studies. Being a performer doesn't. And this part you got now, you even have to share it. Wouldn't it be a better idea to first finish your studies and then continue pursuing a career on Broadway?"

"Uh- Noo..I, I know what I want, and it's this. Being on Broadway. And I don't care I have to share the part." Gina said, as her eyes stared at Cora with confusion, why couldn't she just be happy for her?

"I know dear. But I don't think it's a very smart thing to do."Cora now said more firmly. "I think it's better if.."

"But I don't care what you think is better." Gina suddenly said as she felt anger boil inside her.

"Excuse me?"

"I said I don't care. I know what I want. This is _my_ life and therefore it's _me_ who can decide what to do with it. _Not _you. You're NOT my mother!" She now practically yelled before storming passed Cora into her room, shutting the door after her.

"But I _am_.." Cora whispered to herself. "..I _am_ your mother, Regina. and I only want what's best for you.."

**Please tell me what you think and review ! Next update will probably be in 2013 (unless I pull it off to write a whole new chapter tomorrow ;) ) So for now I wish you all a Happy New Year!**

**x**

**Metope**


	11. Chapter 10

**I'm back from Rome **** I had an awesome time there, and lots of inspiration for this fanfiction too, so here's a new chapter ^^.**

**Party**

Cora was reading a book in her living room when she heard the door of Regina's room open and the clicking sound of shoes from the hallway. Quickly she stood up from the couch to confront her daughter. She had decided to leave Gina be after the girl had gone to her room. After all, what could she do? Cora knew she couldn't justify any sort of punishment because to the girl she was nothing more than the woman that let her live with her. However, it couldn't hurt to confront Regina now she had decided to leave her room.

As she entered the hallway she had to keep herself from letting out a shocked and disapproving gasp. In front of her Gina was getting her coat, wearing a very tight shining dark purple skinny jeans, black extremely high heels, a top that hugged her figure perfectly with only one short sleeve and her hair was up in a loose bun. Dark make up was carefully applied on her eyes and her lips were a dark red.

"Uhm, were are you going?" Cora asked as nonchalantly as she could.

"I'm going out." She answered snappy.

"Here in Storybrooke?"

Gina shook her head. "No. My friends are coming to pick me up, they know a nice place not too far from here. Actually, Elisa is waiting outside for me, so I got to go."

"Okay. And you're wearing just this? No jacket?"

Gina sighed heavily. "Yes. Cora. Yes I'm wearing just this. Can I go now?" She gestured to the front door Cora was now standing in front of.

That was it for Cora, she didn't tolerate this rude behavior anymore. "No, as a matter of fact you cannot." She said raising her voice a little.

Gina's eyes widened. "I can't?" She sighed annoyed. "Listen – "

"No, you listen to me young lady." Cora interrupted her, she may not be able to act as Gina's mother right now, but she figured that seen the fact Gina was living under her roof now, she was allowed to say something of Gina's behavior.

"You may very well not see me as your mother. And you're right, because I am not," It hurt Cora to say this, "but that doesn't mean you can talk to me like that, and come and go as you please. So I expect you to change your attitude. You can go out, it's not up to me to keep you from doing that, but I do want you to return at a respectable hour _and_ in a respectable state."

Gina opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and sighed for the third time. "Fine." She then said.

Cora smiled. "Good. Then I wish you a nice night." She said as she moved away from the door and walked past Gina into the kitchen. Through the window she saw a girl standing next to a motorcycle. She heard the front door slam and shortly after that saw Gina walking towards the girl, giving her a hug and talking to her. _She's probably explaining why she's late now._ Cora thought. She saw Gina gesturing towards the house and rolling her eyes. The girl, Cora now remembered Regina calling her Elisa laughed and then patted Regina's shoulder to calm her down. The girl got her bag from the motorcycle and was clearly looking for something. Eventually Cora saw her getting a bottle out of the bag and offering it to Regina who gratefully took the bottle, opened it, took a swig from it, and gave it back to Elisa, who did the same. Then Elisa put the bottle back in her bag and handed Regina a helmet, she put it on and took place behind Elisa on the vehicle, laughing and talking until the sound of the starting motorcycle drowned out their voices and they took off.

It was then Cora noticed she had been holding her breath while seeing all of this. She was shocked to the core, she could say. First she'd thought that Regina had indeed been better off growing up without her, but now she wasn't too sure about that anymore. What was in that bottle clearly hadn't been some innocent soft drink and the fact that both girls had started drinking already before they even had gotten to wherever they were going to, in those outfit, let alone were drinking while this Elisa still had to drive the both girls to their destination, that couldn't be any good.

She couldn't let this happen, she had to get Gina back as soon as possible, and when she got her back home… she didn't know yet what she would do with Regina when she got home, she needed to be punished, that was for sure, but how she didn't know yet. First she had to get her back and she knew just the person to help her with that, Cora thought as she grabbed her car keys and left the home.

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"Mrs. Mills, hello, what can I do for you?"

"I need to speak to Ruby." Cora said without greeting Granny properly. Granny however was used to the sometimes bold behavior of the woman and wasn't offended.

"I'll get her for you."

"Cora. You wanted to speak to me?" Cora watched the dark haired girl come towards her from behind the bar.

"Yes. I need your help Ruby."

"O? With what?" Ruby asked surprised.

"My daughter- Gina. I think she might be in danger."

Ruby's eyes widened.

"I mean, not in danger as we know danger from our land. But she isn't in a safe situation nevertheless."

"Well what is it then?"

"She left about half an hour ago with a friend of hers, Elisa, to go out in a town somewhere near. I don't know where. However, this girl, I'm not sure if she is the best of influences to Gina. They left on a motorcycle, having a bottle of wine, or something else alcoholic with them, wearing clothes that were way to…straightforward..if you'd ask me and it's.."

"It's okay Cora. I'll help you. I know this Elisa girl, she's indeed not such a good influence on Regina. Regina, _this_ Regina can be very vulnerable, she's insecure at times. She told me how Elisa helped her when she moved in with Mr. Bae and Collin, Elisa is the one that said she should pursue a musical career. And although that's of course all very kind of the girl, Elisa also seems to be a real party animal to me. She's older than Regina and she takes Regina to all these big parties and disco's Regina can't get into by herself because she's too young and isn't allowed to drink yet."

Cora's eyes widened, this sounded even worse than she had thought. "So it's even illegal then, that she's drinking?"

Ruby nodded. "In this land, consuming alcohol is strictly forbidden under the age of 21."

After four years in this world it were these little things Cora still didn't all know, so she was glad she had trusted her feeling that something was wrong.

"But, why don't you go get her yourself? What do you need me for?" Ruby asked. "I mean, if you want me to go with you, no problem, but…"

Cora sighed. "Gina and I had some sort of argument earlier this day. I- was too protective and she got mad at me, yelling at me that I wasn't her mother and that I had to back off."

Ruby's eyes saddened at this, it was always hard with Cora to know whether she was genuine or was acting, but now Ruby could see in Cora's eyes it had been difficult for the older woman to hear Regina saying that. "Plus, " Cora went on, "I have absolutely no idea of where she went, so your wolf senses might come in handy."

Ruby nodded understandingly. "Okay. I'll grab my coat and then we can go."

"Cora?" Cora turned around seeing the sheriff's son standing in front of her.

"Hi Henry. What is it?"

"I heard what you were just saying to Ruby about Gina, and, I want to go with you. If she's in danger I want to help her."

Cora shook her head immediately. "No Henry. Out of the question. There is no way you'll go with us, it's 11 o'clock already. Besides, it's very rude to be eavesdropping, you should know that."

Henry swallowed. "But if she's in danger. I want to help her, I _need_ to help her. She's my mom, she still is, and now she is my friend too. Besides," he said this in the same voice Cora had, clever but annoying boy. "- I'm her best friend here, so if you had a fight with her, and you clearly need someone else to talk her into coming back with you, I might even come in handy."

Cora sighed, the boy had a point there. Gina was friends with Ruby too, that's true, but Ruby was still almost 10 years older than Regina now was, and with this particular topic someone closer in age could be useful. "Alright. You can come." She said as she saw Ruby come their way.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's go." She said to Cora, and as she saw Henry coming with them, "He's coming too?"

Cora nodded with a face that still showed she wasn't too happy with the decision she'd just made.

"Does Emma know?"

Cora shook her head, still with the same face. "No." She then said, "and she won't let him go if she knows. However, the young Charming boy has convinced me that he can be useful in getting Regina back, so he's coming. I'll call Emma to fill her in from the car."

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"It's here." Ruby said as the three stood still before a bar. _The Wildlife Club_ was written on the front in neon letters and they could hear and feel the bass of the music coming from the bar.

They had been driving for about an hour, first taking the wrong exit, then finally arriving in a town about the same size as Storybrooke.

"Okay. Let's go in and do this." Cora said as she took the initiative and opened the door of the bar. As soon as they entered the bar they were blown away by loud dance music and the smell of beer and cigarette smoke. It was extremely warm in the bar because of all the people inside the bar.

"We have to stay close." Ruby said. "It's easy to lose each other in this crowd."

Cora and Henry nodded and they started to walk again making their way through the crowd looking for Gina, Ruby taking the lead.

Suddenly Ruby stopped walking. "Is that her?" As Cora and Henry looked in the direction Ruby was pointing they saw a girl in a shiny dark purple skinny jeans, high heels and a black top dancing on the music. "Yes. That's her." Cora said almost speechless. She hadn't seen her daughter like this ever before, nor had Henry or Ruby. Gina's hair was now loosly hanging on her shoulders, her cheeks were red from the heath and probably also from the alcohol, because in one hand she was holding a beer and in the other a cigarette. All three were too astonished to do anything right away.

They saw a man approaching Regina. He seemed to be in his thirties. The man started to talk to Regina his hand slowly caressing her arm. She laughed, he laughed and then he lowered his head and kissed her. Henry gasped and that got Cora and Ruby snapped out of their astonishment. "That's _it_. She's in _so_ much trouble. Ruby please go get her." Cora said angrily. "Henry and I will wait outside."

Ruby nodded as she walked up to Gina and the man, still kissing. She grabbed Gina's arm and pulled her away from the man. Gina looked confused to who was grabbing her but when she saw Ruby her eyes turned dark and Ruby knew some yelling was to come, and she was right.

"What the hell!? Ruby! What are you doing here? Let me go!"

"No way, lady. You're coming with me." Ruby said firmly as she tightened her grip around Gina's arm and dragged her with her to the exit of the bar. Gina was struggling to get free without any luck.

As they both got outside and Gina saw Cora and Henry waiting by the car she got mad again.

"Seriously? What _is_ all of this? Why are you all here?!" She yelled.

"Get in the car." Was all Cora said, her eyes just as dark as Regina's for she was just as angry.

"No. You said I was allowed to go out, which is weird in the first place because it's not up to you to allow or not allow anything of the sort. And it's only just past midnight, which is not that late at all."

"Yes, but you were to return in a respectable state too, and as you're now you won't be able to live up to that condition!"

Gina huffed. "I cannot believe this."

"Neither can we." Cora stated.

"No of _course_ you cannot understand this!" Gina gestured to the bar behind them. "I mean, how _old_ are you even. You have absolutely no clue of _anything_!"

Ruby looked at Henry, time to play the Henry card.

"Gina, please get in to the car?"Henry said, Gina turned her head towards Henry and it were, as usual, his brown pleading puppy eyes that made her surrender.  
"FINE! I'll go."She yelled as she stamped to the car and went to sit in the backseat.

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"I cannot believe this Gina." Cora said as they were driving back to Storybrooke.

"Well that makes two of us then."Gina said back.

"But really Gina. Drinking? Smoking? You're nine_teen_." Ruby stressed the end of the word a bit.

"Exactly. Nineteen. I'm not a child anymore."

"But you are." Ruby said.

"No I'm not. Children have parents or family who look after them. I don't have that, so therefore I'm not a kid. I'm nineteen, and I'm perfectly capable to take care of myself."

Ruby sighed.

"Well by the looks of how you were investigating the inside of that man's mouth, you're not as capable of taking care of yourself as you like to think." Cora stated.

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

"That means, that the men was like 35 or something Regina! Probably married or I don't know what. Men like him aren't good news!" Ruby said.

"But that's clearly no problem for you." Cora said back cynically. "So far for being heartbroken over your boyfriend."

Ruby gasped, and Henry's eyes widened, Cora had gone too far.

"You – That's- Leave Collin out of this! And let me out of this car!" Gina now screamed, as she tried to undo her seatbelt and get out of the riding car, tears were falling down her face.

"Mo- Gina! Don't do that." Henry said as he kept her hands away from her seatbelt, hoping no one had heard the mistake he almost made.

Eventually Gina gave in and leaned in to Henry starting to cry.

"No one loves me." She sobbed. "I- just- want to feel- loved."

Henry stared at the girl that was crying on his lap, being only a fourteen year old he didn't know what to do now. So he did what his mom always did when he was crying, he rubbed her back and just let her cry.

"We love you Gina." He said when she had calmed down a bit. "I do. My mom does. My grandmom does. Ruby does, the other friends you made in Storybrooke do, and- and I think Cora does too."

Gina didn't react, she just sighed, and after a while he felt her breath slow down and become regular again, she had fallen asleep.

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"Oh men. I'm in so much trouble right now." Henry said as he stepped out of the car and saw Emma coming from their house, anger written all over her face.

"Get inside." Was all she said when she got to the car. Henry did as he was told as Cora and Ruby stepped out.

"What the hell Cora?" Emma said, keeping her voice down to not wake any of the townspeople. "It's two o'clock in the night and my fourteen year old son is _not_ in his bed. Wherever did you go?"

"We went to get my daughter." Was all Cora said.

"And we needed Henry's super power, or actually his puppy eyes, to get Gina to come with us." Ruby explained.

"And did you succeed?" Emma asked, still mad.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. It was bad, she totally was like one of those party girls. But we saved her before it could get too bad. She's still in the car."

Emma huffed and lowered her head to see Gina who was now awake again sitting in the car, staring out the window to the road with sad eyes. Her makeup was smudged because of the crying.

"She doesn't look too well." Emma stated a bit worried.

"She'll get over it." Cora said coldly. "Come Ruby. I'll bring you home." She said as she stepped into the car again.

"She'll be fine, Emma." Ruby said. "She just- She acts like she's over Collin, but tonight proved that's not at all the case. He broke much more than just her heart, she has a very low self-esteem and is in fact very insecure."

"The extreme behavior is a way to flee from all of that." Emma nodded. "The attention is a way to make her feel better for a bit." Emma knew that desire all too well, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl, even though what Regina had done was wrong.

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Cora woke up that night because she heard screaming coming from the other room. "What is it now again." She said annoyed to herself as she got up and walked to Regina's room.

"Nooooo. Mother! Please don't! I'll be good!" Cora's face turned white at the words Regina was screaming, the girl was clearly having a nightmare.

"Please don't do this. You know I hate it when you use magic on me." Gina cried again.

This couldn't be. Was she remembering again? Cora decided to wake her up.

"Gina. Gina wake up honey. Wake up, it's just a dream." Cora said as she was sitting on the edge of the bed.

With another scream Gina woke up and immediately sat up, eyes wide and sweat on her forehead.

As soon as she saw and recognized Cora sitting on the edge of her bed holding her shoulders and saw the worry in her eyes, she started to cry and leaned in to Cora as the older woman put her arms around the girl.

"I'm so sorry, Cora. I'm so sorry for everything."

"Sssh.. it's okay sweetheart. I know you didn't mean to cause that much trouble."

Gina looked up with a tear stained face. "I really didn't. But look, here you are again, in the middle of the night, comforting me because of a silly nightmare."

"That's okay. What was it about Gina? Telling about it helps." Cora said, but in fact she just needed to know whether Regina was really remembering or not.

"It was so weird. I was horseback riding, and then suddenly I got lifted up in the air and there were ties around me and it hurt and made it hard to breathe. And I was wearing these weird old clothes, a blue riding coat and on the ground there was a woman holding me up with a magic spell or something. And she was wearing these weird clothes too, a dark red gown and a black cape…"

Cora's face turned white again, it seemed Regina really was remembering. But if she was, that didn't explain the fact why she still wanted to be hold by her, if she really remembered she would be as far away from Cora as the room would let her by now.

"Go on." Cora managed to say.

"Well..and the weird thing was..I couldn't hear what the woman was saying, nor what she looked like. It didn't matter how hard I tried, somehow I couldn't see her face. And it was just…so real. Everything seemed so real, the pain, the fear…" Gina said, as another sob escaped her lips.

It was a good thing the room was dark, so Gina couldn't see the pain that was in Cora's eyes. What have I done, the woman thought. My own daughter is having nightmares about me, without even realizing it. She would have to speak to Gold tomorrow as soon as possible. Had she first wanted Regina to remember again, so she could be her mother again, now she wasn't too sure anymore whether she wanted that to happen.

**I hope you all liked this chapter. I wasn't too sure whether I should write this or not. But I really felt like it added something to the story and to Gina's character. It sets a bigger contrast with Regina and it shows how Gina is feeling about Collin leaving her. I hope you like it. Please let me know ;)! If you have any questions just ask **

**Please R&R! **

**x**

**Metope**


	12. Chapter 11

**Breakfast**

"Gold! We need to talk."

"Cora, how nice to see you again." Gold said falsely as the older woman entered his shop.

It had been three weeks since Regina had had the nightmare and only now Cora had been able to ask Rumpelstiltskin about it. Only, by now she had another matter to discuss with him as well, a lot had happened in the three weeks. Rumpel, for one, had been visiting his son and grandson together with Belle these three weeks. In their absence the relationship between Cora and Gina had improved again. Gina suddenly seemed happier and more confident again. First Cora thought it had to do with the rehearsals for the musical. The première wasn't far away anymore, and Gina had been practicing almost every day in the Storybrooke theatre when she was not at rehearsal. It was about two weeks ago, Cora found out there was another reason Gina was happy again. Collin had contacted her a few days after 'the incident' and they had started to date again. Mostly meeting each other after Gina was done with rehearsal. At first she hadn't told Cora, but eventually she had. Cora had tried to keep Gina away from Collin, as had Emma, Snow and Ruby once they found out. They had told her that the way Collin had treated her wasn't right, that Collin wasn't right for her, and Cora agreed. Of course, it had partly been her doing that Collin had broken up with Regina, but the way in which he had done it.., She hadn't had a hand in that, and he certainly hadn't handled it the right way. But now Gina was back in the arms of Collin again, and she couldn't let that happen, so here she was.

"What is it you want to talk about Cora?" Gold asked.

"It's about my daughter."

"Of course it is."

"I- she… I want to know how this spell that causes her to not remember anything works. Is it possible for her to regain her memories somehow?" Cora asked, and she explained what had happened the night of 'the incident'.

"Well dearie, to be honest. I'm not quite sure. Naturally the spell was designed so that someone who'd cross the border would forget and therefore likely would never return to Storybrooke again. With Gina being here, surrounded by everyone and everything she once knew, it could trigger her to remember again. However, I don't think this remembering will go any further than the nightmares and dreams she now has. After all, it's a powerful spell, so it can only be broken by true loves kiss." Gold said.

"But, shouldn't she have remembered then already?" Cora asked, "She and Collin have been together for two years, and I've seen her and Collin – "

"Kiss plenty of times?" Gold finished her sentence. "Yes but there are two reasons why she still doesn't remember. One: There is no magic outside of Storybrooke, so a true love's kiss is just as ordinary as any other kiss out there. And two: Collin isn't her true love. Simple as that."

Cora gasped and nodded her head understandingly.

"Even more reason to keep them apart then." She said. "This brings me to the second matter I wanted to discuss with you."

"That she and Collin are together again." Gold stated. "Yes I noticed. My grandson is trying the best he can to keep it hidden from his father, and he succeeds in that. But I cannot be fooled that easily. But don't worry. I'm on it."

Cora nodded happily. "Great." She said. "Because they're together somewhere in Boston I believe as we speak."

"Don't worry dearie." Gold said again. "I'll make sure Regina will forget about Collin soon enough. And if you'd excuse me now. I've dinner planned for me and Belle." And with that he turned around.

Cora smiled contently; it was a good thing Gold was willing to help keeping Regina and Collin apart. Collin wasn't good for Regina, and besides, she didn't want to share her daughter, at least not just yet. Little did Cora know keeping Regina away from Collin wasn't the same as making sure Regina would be without a boyfriend who could just be her true love to Gold.

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"I love you."

She laughed. "Goodmorning to you too." She was laying next to him in the big bed, on her stomach, her finger trailing circles on his bare chest. His right arm was around her as he slowly caressed the perfectly olive toned skin of her back.

"However, I do wish we could stop doing this secretly." Gina said. "It's been three weeks now. I'm getting tired of having to wait for a rehearsal to have an opportunity to see you."

Collin sighed. "I know Gina. And I don't like it either. But believe me, if my father would know about this.."

"He would cut you off of everything. I know. But, would that really be so bad? I mean, I seem to be getting somewhere with my career. And you're a talented lawyer, you could start for yourself. We could do it, just the two of us."

Collin shook his head. "No Gina. You have to be realistic."

"But – " Gina didn't get to finish her but. Suddenly the door of the hotel room they were in burst open and a furious Aiden stormed into the room.

"Collin Bae! You better get out of that bed RIGHT NOW." Aiden said furiously.

Gina gasped as she pulled the sheets closer around herself, staring with wide eyes first at Aiden and then at Collin who didn't seem to making any effort to get out of the bed at all.

"Get away from that witch, Collin! If your mother would see this…"

"Leave mom out of this!" Collin said furiously. Gina gasped again, first because Mr. Bae had called her a witch for, in her eyes, no reason. And secondly because he had played the 'Wendy-card'. Collin's mother had died when Collin had been 15, he still really missed her of course, and for Mr. Bae to use that to get Collin to do what he wanted was low. Gina didn't understand at all where all of this was coming from. How did Mr. Bae even know they were here, let alone how did he manage to get in their room?

"And I'm NOT coming with you."

"Yes you are."

"O really? And what if I don't ?" Collin dared to ask, although he already knew the answer.

"Or I will stop supporting you in all ways I am now. Which means, no house, no food, no money, no heritage, no job, nothing. You'll have to do everything all by yourself"

"Collin, "Gina started, "don't. You don't have to, we can take care of ourselves. We don't need his money."

But Collin shook his head as he stepped out of the bed and started to put his clothes one.

"Collin – " Gina stammered, she couldn't believe his father had convinced him that easily, that he would leave her. Again.

"Don't, Gina. It's better this way. You're not thinking realistic about this. You have nothing, and without my father's support I have nothing too. That's not something I want." He said.

Gina sighed as a single tear fell down her face. "So you choose money above me?"

"No, my son chooses wisely what's best for both of you." Aiden answered before Collin could, who just nodded.

"Well go then. Just go! And I don't want to see you again Collin Bae. EVER." Gina now yelled as she threw one of the pillows towards him, tear sliding down her face.

Collin didn't react and Aiden just smirked as he and Collin now left the hotel room. The real Evil Queen is still in there somewhere, and I don't want my son to have any contact with magic or that wicked fairy tale world, he thought.

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"Hey watch it!"

"O, I'm so sorry!" Gina said, she had just left the hotel, not seeing where she was going, her vision too blurred by the tears that didn't seem to stop falling as she bumped in to someone.

She wiped the tears from her face to see what had happened. In front of her was standing a tall handsome young man, dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and his white shirt was covered with spilled coffee. "O my god no." Gina gasped. "I'm sorry." She said again, and she started crying again.

"Hey, it's okay. It's just an accident. It's not like you did it on purpose and besides, I didn't really like this shirt anyways." He smiled at her, and Gina did a failed attempt to smile back at him.

"I'm sorry." She said for the third time. "I usually don't cry that much. I just had..something happening to me earlier that quite upset me."

The man laughed. "That's okay. It's just a shame to see you cry. Pretty girls like you shouldn't be crying. And no one should make you cry." He said with a soft smile.

Gina blushed. "You should say that to my boyfriend." She mumbled.

"Boyfriend?" The man asked.

"Well _ex_-boyfriend now." She corrected herself.

"Aha, I see." The man said.

The awkward silence that followed was broken by the loud protest of Gina's stomach telling her she needed breakfast.

"Ooo, I'm sorry. I haven't eaten breakfast yet."

"You do apologize a lot, don't you?" The man laughed.

Gina laughed back at him. She liked this man, although she had absolutely no idea who he was, she still had the idea that she knew him. He gave her a feeling that seemed familiar, although she didn't know to what or when she had felt it before.

"Well let me take you for breakfast then. And in the meanwhile you can tell me what made you cry so badly." The man said. "If you want to, that is."

Gina smiled. "I'd like that." She said happily. "I'm Gina by the way. Gina Moulin." And she held out her hand.

The man happily took her hand and shook it. "I'm Daniel." He said.

**Dum dum duuuummm. So I had a nice conversation with PrudenceKimberly about whether or not I should Daniel bring in this story, because I thought it would be hard to do so without his return being highly implausible and unbelievable. But I eventually found a way, and since I don't like Collin that much, and I don't seem to be the only one in that..here he is ****!**

**I hope to update on Monday again. Tomorrow I will be very busy, maybe I can write something tomorrow evening but I'm not sure of that. I'm moving tomorrow so I'll be kinda busy ****.**

**Please tell me what you thought of this (short) chapter. R&R!**

**X**

**Metope**


	13. Chapter 12

**Thank you all so much for the reviews. I really like to read all your comments and thoughts and views on things ****! **

**To EvilRegal Haha thank you, you have a great casting sense ;)!**

**To CC yay for Daniel :D There's gonna be more Daniel in the chapter after this one :D**

******Disclaime: song from the Musical Elisabeth; I belong to me - Pia Douwes - Stage Entertainment**

**I belong to me**

Gold had figured out Collin was seeing Gina again rather quickly during his stay with his son and grandson. Thanks to that, he had already been able to plan something against it, so when he had gotten home he had started his plan right away, only more than happy that he did after Cora had paid him a visit.

For Gold there were two problems about the whole Regina thing. First of all the fact that someone from his bloodline was in love with that witch. With his rival, he couldn't let that happen. And maybe – just maybe – there was a tene tiny part in Rumpel telling him that his grandson wasn't treating his former protégé the way she should be treated. Second, he didn't like where the relationship between Cora and Regina was going, they were getting way too close, and Rumpelstiltskin didn't trust Cora, simply because she couldn't be trusted, not ever. If he would just break Gina and Collin up again, Gina would run back right in the arms of Cora. Rumpel wasn't too sure about what he had said to Cora that night. Maybe the dreams Gina had had about her past wouldn't stay dreams forever. Maybe she would remember eventually and if she would, he would have team super evil standing against him. So the key to his problem was to make sure there would be someone else to pick up the pieces. Of course she could turn to Ruby, or Snow, or Emma who she'd – ironically – befriended rather quickly. But this 19 year old Regina wasn't just looking for friends, she needed a parent figure too, one she'd now found in Cora. In order to break that bond, he would have to make sure there would be someone else than Cora to fill that role, which was easier said than done. Not all were as forgiving as the Charming family and their friends. It had taken Gold a good three days to think of the right person for the job, and then suddenly it hit him. He had actually been quite disappointed in himself that he hadn't thought of it earlier. The only one who had really loved Regina when she was young had been Henry. Henry senior. He had a plan now. All Gold had to do was get Regina's father back, simple as that.

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_Two days after Collin and Gina broke up.- current time_

The bell above the door of the pawnshop tinkled as Cora entered the shop once again. "Rumpelstiltskin, I wanted to thank you for how you handled our pro- "

"Cora!.."

Cora stopped dead in her tracks, and all she could do was staring. Staring at the man that was standing in front of her. The man that she would always recognize, no matter where they were, even now, in these modern clothes, she recognized him. And he had recognized her.

"You're dead."

The man shook his head.

"Ah, I see you met each other again." Rumpelstiltskin came from the back of the shop and walked towards Cora with his typical evil grin on his face.

"No, no no." Cora said as she shook her head and then, as in one move turned her head towards Gold and tried to push him against the wall by magic.

Gold however disarmed the spell just as easily as Cora had thrown it his way. "Ah, and there I thought you had _truly_ changed, that you had abandoned using magic for bad. How foolish of me to think so."

"Enough with your games now Rumpelstiltskin." Cora growled. "You're going to explain to me _right now_ how _he_ can be here." She hissed as she gestured towards her husband (what he officially still was).

"He? He was part of my plan to solve our Collin problem." Gold said, unimpressed by Cora's threats.

"How does he have something to do with your grandson breaking up with my daughter?"

"Nothing, when you put it like that."

"Then why? Stop these games! You said you would break them up. Henry has nothing to do with that."

"O no, that's not what I said, dearie. I said I was working on solving the problem. Solving the problem _I _had. The mere fact that a part of my problem was also your problem doesn't change anything about that."

Cora sighed impatiently as she felt the anger boiling inside her.

"Care to explain where Henry fits in your plan? And how you brought him here?"

"Why I brought your husband here, is my business. However, how I brought him here I will explain to you."

Cora opened her mouth to protest but Rumpel stopped her by continuing.

"- and after that, you're going to leave. You're going to leave and you're going to take Henry here with you. You're going to bring him to your daughter and introduce him to her. He knows about her..situation…so he knows how to behave. And you _are_ going to do all of this, or else I'll make sure that Gina will hear about who is responsible for her boyfriend leaving her. Do you understand? Dearie?"

Cora did nothing for a while but then nodded.

"Good." Gold said as he walked towards the counter against which Henry leaning the entire time, quietly observing the entire discussion, as he had always done. Gold got a small almond shaped pendant from the counter and hold it up in the light.

"As you might know," He started. "those who get their heart ripped out and crushed never really die. Their spirit just travels to another realm. However, we normally cannot bring them back because there is no body for the spirit to return to. But a long time ago, back in our land, I found a way to solve this problem. By channelling magic through this pendant on something that once belonged to the person you want to bring back, you actually _can_ bring that one back."

Cora gasped. "But how did you have something that belonged to Henry?"

Gold smirked. "Simply, I entered your family grave and searched long enough to find something that belonged to him. Which wasn't too easy considering the damage that stable boy had left behind after his '_magical' _zombie revival. But eventually I found a ring that most certainly belonged to him. So I used it to perform the spell and here we are. Got it?"

Cora nodded.

"Good. Then I would like you two to go now."

"No- but, wait. What am I to say to her? How will I explain who he is? Where he comes from? Where he lives?" Cora asked.

"O I'm sure you'll think of something, dearie. Now go, go, I've got better things to do." Gold said as he gestured them towards the door. As the two adults left the shop, both evenly confused, Gold smiled, content with how his plan had worked out. He knew everything was going according to plan.

Little did the imp know that when he had used Henry's ring, he hadn't only brought Henry back. In one of the curves of the ring, a hair had been stuck. A hair of a certain stable boy. And when Gold had performed the spell, this stable boy too got brought to Storybrooke, alive and healthy this time. But where ending up in Rumpelstiltskin's pawnshop had most certainly meant a short lived 'third life' for the boy, faith had made sure that the stable boy woke up somewhere else. Faith, or maybe the blue fairy, who had eyes everywhere, and was warned by her fairies as soon as they took notice of the spell Gold was planning to perform. And in the chaos the spell caused in bringing back Henry – and Daniël – she had taken care of the boy. She had teleported him out of the shop as soon as she could, had erased his memory, replaced them with new ones from this world and had given him a safe new home. Daniel and Regina might still not be together like this, but true love would always find each other, so no matter how far they would be parted, Daniel and Regina would eventually be reunited. And that was what was needed according to the stars. And so the Blue fairy did.

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They were walking for five minutes now in utter silence. Cora too furious and confused to talk, Henry to amazed by the world around him. Rumpelstiltskin- or Gold as he was apparently called here – had explained the most important things about this world to him, but still actually seeing everything, and living in it was something totally different after spending two days inside in the dark shop.

"Where are we going?" He eventually dared to break the silence.

"Where do you _think_ we're going." Cora snapped. "I'm taking you to see _my_ daughter. Like that twisted little imp wanted me to."

Henry nodded as he twitched a little when Cora talked about Regina as only her daughter.

"Have you thought about…how you're going to introduce me to her?" He asked.

Cora stopped walking and turned to look at him for the first time.

"Yes. Yes I have." She said. "It would be best if we'd introduce you as my brother. Since- we both have the same last name here, unfortunately, and any other story would be highly unbelievable. So we'll go with this."

Henry nodded, the marriage he and Cora had, had ended long ago, so the fact that she didn't want him to be her husband didn't hurt him in the slightest.

"How is she? What is she like here?" He then asked as they continued walking.

"She is - ," Cora sighed. "She is different. Sometimes I think she is a totally different person, and sometimes I see _her _again, then I see Regina."

"Is she happy?"

"Yes, yes I think she is. Even though we weren't – Even though I and Rumpelstiltskin weren't there to meddle in her life, she did have a hard time growing up in this world, _without _parents at all. I'm sure, Gold explained to you what happened and how she got here?"

Henry nodded. "Yes, yes he did."

"Okay. Well, it has had a slight negative effect on her, not much, but just a little. She can be very insecure at times, can be very vulnerable. But, at the same time she is this happy, young girl, who is amazingly talented, is smart and can sing and dance like no one can."

"She dances?" Henry asked surprised.

Cora nodded. "Yes. It's what she loves to do the most. Even when she's not performing or rehearsing she sings and hums and hops and twirls and dances all day long. We're walking towards the theatre now in fact because she's in there rehearsing at the moment. She has the lead role in a big musical theatre piece. And the premiere is only a week away. She's very nervous for it, I can see, but there's no need for her to be, she's perfect." And even though Cora thought being a singer and dancer was highly inappropriate for a lady – her old fashioned believes were hard to get rid of – and she rather saw her daughter becoming something else, like a doctor or politician – because in this world, you could – she couldn't help but feel proud when she talked about Regina. Henry noticed this and it made him smile. He hadn't seen his wife in decades, and they had parted on bad terms to say the least, but in the short time they had been together now, he had already seen how she had changed. She wasn't by far redeemed from evil, her actions against Rumpelstiltskin earlier had proved, but the fact that she now was able to talk approvingly about something her daughter had chosen to do could be considered as a major step forward.

The rest of the path they walked silently. There had happened to much between them and they hadn't seen each other for so long that even small talk seemed to be too difficult.

"Here it is." Cora said as they walked up to a large building, they were entered through the backdoor; Henry followed Cora as she led the way through the building.

After a while they could hear a warm voice coming from one of the rehearsal rooms. From one of the rooms the blinds were open and Cora could see her daughter standing next to the piano. Someone she didn't know was accompanying her on the piano and she saw Henry sitting on the ground his back leaning against the mirror wall. He often came with Regina to rehearsal, he liked to see her sing or practice her dances. Suddenly the music stopped and Cora saw how Regina walked around the piano to discuss something with the pianist. Henry sr. came to stand next to Cora. "Is that her?" It was a rhetorical question of course, but he just couldn't believe his eyes. The last time he had seen his daughter, she had been this person he had hardly recognized as the little girl she once was, she had worn incredible dark daring clothes, black hair pulled back in a high ponytail, dark make up and above all a deep coldness in her voice and eyes. However, the girl in that room, was his daughter again, this was the girl with whom he went to make long strolls through the forest near their house. The girl that laughed about his jokes when they were alone in the stables. He had thought he would never see her again, but no here she was. Cora watched her husband, his emotions were easy to read from his face and she huffed in annoyance.

"You cannot run to her and hug her, or anything of the kind."

Confused Henry looked up to her from his thoughts.

"Well, you looked as if you were planning on doing something like that. But you can't. She doesn't know who you are. You have to act like any other perfect stranger to her." Cora said coldly, it wasn't jealousy why she was acting this way, she told herself. It was just that she had to prevent her daughter from getting hurt or getting confused.

She got snapped back to reality by the clear and carefree sound of Regina's laughter. They both looked through the open blinds again and saw how she was taking her place next to the piano again as the latter started to play.

As soon as Regina started to sing Henry sr. got tears in his eyes. He listened as the voice of his daughter filled his ears with warm, round, high, perfectly pitched tones. He didn't recognize the song, but that didn't matter, the words melted perfectly with the music and as she too got caught in the music her face told the story of the words and they seemed painfully true and confronting to both him and Cora…as the girl sang about belonging to no one and wanting to be free

…

As the music stopped they both stayed silent until they got snapped back to reality by Henry jr. cheering and applauding for Regina in the rehearsal room. She laughed at him and went to sit next to him on the ground.

"Okay. Let's go in now, and introduce you." Cora said with a voice that sounded less strong than she'd wanted it to be.

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**O UAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

"Gina. That was amazing. That last high note..you hit it perfectly!"

Gina blushed. "Thanks Henry. I too think I got this number almost how I want it to be."

They both looked up as the door of the rehearsal room opened and Cora and a man came in.

Henry's eyes widened as soon as he recognized who the man was. Bewildered he looked at Cora who signalled to him he had to keep quiet for now.

Gina stood up from the ground and walked towards the two adults.

"Hi Cora." She smiled. "Did you come to listen to rehearsal? Who did you bring with you?"

Cora smiled softly. "Hi dear. Yes we came to see how you were doing. The song you just sang was beautiful Gina. Is it part of the musical you're preparing for?" After hearing the words of the song and how confronting they were for her, Cora suddenly wished she had made more effort to know what kind of musical it was Regina was participating in.

Gina nodded. "Yes, it's like the most important song for my character, so I really want to sing it perfect."

"Well, if you'd ask me, you just did that." The man standing next to Cora now said, causing him a glare from Cora in his direction.

"Why, thank you sir." Gina blushed. "I'm Gina Moulin, nice to meet you." She said as she held out her hand.

Henry happily took the hand and shook it. "Hello Gina. I'm Henry Mills."

"Ah just like my friend Henry here!" Gina laughed as she gestured to Henry who was still standing with the piano. "O but are you two family then?" she then asked.

Cora nodded. "Yes." She said not too eagerly. "Henry here is my..brother." As Cora said this she made sure to send Henry jr. a warning look to make sure he wouldn't ruin anything.

"Are you staying for a short visit here or are you planning on staying longer Mr. Mills?" Henry asked instead.

"Well, I'm not sure how long I'll stay." Henry sr. lied. "But I'm planning on staying for a while at least."

"O but then you should come to dinner with us tonight!" Gina said happily. "Cora's lasagne is like the best ever. But of course you know that as her brother." She then followed with a blush.

Henry couldn't help but laugh about this. His daughter was so incredibly different from the girl she had been back in their land, there, even when Cora wasn't home, she had had sort of fear and sadness in her eyes.

Cora chose to intervene at this point. "Yes, I think Henry can come to eat with us. Maybe we could invite Ruby and Henry and the sheriff too? To give them a proper thank you for the night we had to get you from that club?" Cora asked sweetly.

Gina turned red immediately and turned a little away from Cora. "Uhm yes we could do that maybe." She mumbled.

"Well that's settled then. We'll leave you alone to your rehearsal then." Cora said.

Gina nodded. "Yes. Bye Cora." She said, with less enthusiasm now than before.

"Uhm, Cora, would you mind if I'd stay here a little longer to listen to Gina. If that's okay with her of course?"

"Oh that's no problem at all Mr. Mills." Gina said after which she didn't leave Cora much else to do than agree with it too.

As soon as Cora left Gina let out a sigh. "I wish she would stop to keep reminding me about 'the incident'!" She exclaimed. "It drives me crazy! I've said sorry like a thousand times now, and she still holds it against me every time I do something she doesn't like!"

Henry Jr. let out a small laugh as sign of agreement.

"What do you mean Gina?" Henry sr. asked, although he had seen Cora had changed, by Gina's reaction her behaviour was still getting on Gina's nerves.

"Oh, nothing Mr. Mills. It's just that.. The other night, things got a bit out of control at a club where I was. I got just a little bit drunk and Cora and Ruby and Henry came to drag me out of the club in the middle of the night, and it was all really embarrassing. And I'm very _very_ sorry for my behaviour and everything, but I still wasn´t over the fact that my boyfriend had broken up with me, so I wasn´t thinking straight. And I´ve said sorry like a thousand times. But still she holds it against me. And apparently inviting you to dinner without asking her first, even though you are her brother, pissed her off." Gina rattled and then suddenly her eyes went wide. "O- I'm so sorry." She said. "I shouldn't have taken all of my frustration out on you. I'm sorry for talking like that to you, in such a bad mannered way."

Henry didn't say anything at first, still trying to process the fact that his daughter had been drunk at some club which he took to be the rude sailor pub equivalent of this world, but then smiled at her. "That's okay Gina. Young girls sometimes just need someone to say all these things to without them being judged because of it.

His daughter smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you Mr. Mills." She said, and then she turned back to the piano and the piano guy who had been sitting there the entire time. "Better get to work again."

**I imagine the piano dude to be like the one in Glee, 'only there when you need him to be.**

**Second: I have thought about whether or not I would add Henry sr. to the story for a long time, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted him to be in there. After all, in a way this story is about Regina being the person she could have been without Cora and Rumpel but also about Regina finding closure and all, and I think in order to do so she will have to come to terms with her father eventually, so I thought it would be fitting to bring him in the story like this.**

**About the SONG. **

**It's actually a song from an originally German/Dutch musical, called 'Elisabeth' about the Austrian-Hungarian Empress Elisabeth (better known as Sissi). It's one of my absolute favourites and since OUAT I find the song 'I belong to me' to be very fitting for Regina too. I found the English version of the lyrics on internet, I know it has been recorded in English once too but I can only find a stupid jazzy version of it or bad quality XD. So if you're curious about how the song goes, you'll have to listen to (amazing) this Dutch version, because that's the one on youtube with the best quality.**

**It's 'Mijn leven is van mij' by Pia Douwes (In case link doesn't work)**

**You have to listen the entire song because I especially like the last part and the last note. (the part I used in the chapter is also the end ;) )**

**Please tell me your thoughts about Henry Senior and everything ****! R&R I'll try to update a.s.a.p.**

**X**

**Metope**


	14. Chapter 13

**Wow thank you all for the reviews. I'm very happy you're all reacting so good on Henry sr. returning :P I was so scared when I uploaded this that you wouldn't like it!**

**Sushi**

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Pleaasssee I'm sorry! I'm sorry!."

Both Henry and Cora were awake in less than a second by the loud screams coming from their daughter's bedroom. After the dinner at Cora's, Emma, Henry jr. and Ruby had left and Henry had stayed with Gina and Cora - out of necessity. Too late Cora had realized she hadn't made any arrangements for Henry to stay somewhere in Storybrooke so she had unwillingly brought him to her guestroom.

Quickly Cora got out of her bed and walked to Regina's room. On the hallway she ran into Henry.

"What are you doing here." She hissed.

"I heard her screaming and wanted to make sure everything was alright with her."He explained himself.

"She is, she just has a nightmare, nothing unusual." Cora said as she passed him and entered Regina's room, Henry stayed behind and waited at the doorstep.

Worry entered Cora's eyes as she saw how her daughter was turning in her bed, tears streaming down her face, breathing heavily. Quickly she walked to the bed to sit down at the end and gently touched Regina's shoulder to wake her from the dream.

As soon as she did Regina sat up at once, eyes looking bewildered through the room to find something familiar. Slowly she recognized where she was again, she saw the chair she had put her clothes on when she had gone to sleep, her closet and her mirror, and she felt Cora's hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Cora asked gently.

Gina swallowed. "I- I don't know if I should."

"Why? It normally helps you when you talk about it to me?"

"But this time was different. This time, I recognized someone in my dream. And I could hear what was being said."

"That's – That's okay honey. You can tell me anyways. It's just a dream after all, I won't judge." Cora said as calmly as she could, although she felt a big fear growing inside her.

"I was – In a castle, or a palace. It was really dark, and cold. There were a lot of mirrors. And a man wearing the weird kind of medieval clothes they always do in these nightmares. I walked to him. He asked me if I now knew what I had wanted to know. I told him that I had, but that I wasn't sure whether I should tell him. That I was…conflicted."

"What was it what you had to tell him?" Cora asked as she stroke Gina's hair gently behind her ear.

"I haven't the slightest idea. I never got to figure it out. Because for a while I couldn't hear what was being said again, by him and by me. And then…" Gina swallowed visibly again and tears started to fall down her face again.

"Go on." Cora encouraged.

"Then I suddenly walked up to the man, and I embraced him and then. Then I put my hand in his _chest!_ And I _ripped out his HEART!_" Cora took Gina in her arms now to keep the extremely upset girl from shaking too heavily.

"Ssssh.." she tried to comfort her daughter. "It was just a nightmare."

"But that wasn't _all!_" Gina cried. "When I had the heart in my hand, I- I suddenly saw who the man was. I recognized him, it- it was – " It cost Gina much effort to make herself understandable through the loud sobs that were now escaping her mouth. "It was Mr _Mills_. I killed your brother in my dream, Cora!" She cried and she leaned in to Cora sobbing into the fabric of Cora's nightwear.

Now it was Cora's turn to swallow and she was at a loss of words. This had been a memory a little too detailed for Cora's taste.

Suddenly Gina sat straight up again and stepped from the bed and ran to the bathroom. "I have to – I need to – throw up." She managed to say before she bended over and vomited in the toilet, telling about her nightmare to Cora had made her relive the entire ordeal again.

Cora still sat on the bed and was staring into the darkness of the room. When she finally moved to go to the bathroom to take care of Gina she met Henry's gaze, who was still standing in the doorway. His eyes were filled with just as much worry as Cora's. She simply shook her head and went in to the bathroom.

Henry decided to go to the kitchen to find himself something to drink, something strong preferably and wait there for Cora, she had some explaining to do, Rumpelstiltskin hadn't said a word about Regina having these kind of nightmares. Half an hour later Cora entered the kitchen.

"So here you are." She stated.

Henry did nothing but nod.

"She's been having these kinds of nightmares for a couple of weeks now." Cora said, knowing he would want an explanation. "But never as detailed and vivid as this one. Normally she cannot see the faces of the people in their dreams, nor hear their voices. Rumpelstiltskin said they were memories but that she wouldn't actually start to remember. That it would stay like this. So I hope he is right, and that this will be as far as it will go."

Henry nodded again. "I saw how tired she was looking today at the theatre. I didn't think too much of it then, but it's because of this, isn't it? She doesn't get enough sleep."

Cora shook her head. "No. There are nights that she doesn't want to go to sleep at all, afraid to have another nightmare. It usually helps when I stay with her till she sleeps, but I doubt whether I'll be able to get her to sleep tomorrow after this night."

"You've changed."Henry said, still without looking at her.

Cora said nothing and together they stood in the kitchen, staring out of the window looking into the dark night while they both worried about their daughter.

*OUAT* *OUAT**OUAT* *OUAT**OUAT* *OUAT**OUAT* *OUAT**OUAT* *OUAT**OUAT*

The following morning Gina was the last one to get down. Silently she took place next to Cora and Henry to eat breakfast. Much else than a short greeting wasn't said. All 'Did you sleep well?' questions seemed awkward for all three of them, so they didn't ask them, causing the breakfast to proceed in silence until Gina's phone went buzzing.

Quickly Gina picked it up to see who'd sent her a message. Cora and Henry curiously observed their daughter as her face changed from sad and serious to a small smile as she read the message and started to write something back.

"Who's that you're texting with, dear?" Cora asked.

Gina immediately looked up from her phone, her cheeks turning red a little. "N- No one. Just. Someone from…not here. I have to go now. I haven't even packed my stuff yet." She then said as she stands up from the table.

"Packed your things? For what?" Cora asked confused.  
"To go to New York." Gina said as if she just said she was going to go get groceries.

"You're going to New _York_?" Cora asked, raising her eyebrows.

Gina nodded. "Yes, I told you. It's only two days before the show opens on Broadway and they're finally done building the decor and stuff so we can go rehearse at the actual theatre."

"And where will you be staying?"

"In a hotel, they've arranged a hotel and everything for us for now. When the show has actually started we'll have to make our own arrangements, but for now they did it for us."

"You most certainly did _not_ tell me that." Cora stated, lips slightly pursed.

"I did."

"When?"

"Well – uh..you know a few days ago when we were at the.." Gina turned red, this didn't go as well as it had gone in her head.

"Why are you lying to me Gina?"

"I'm not. I just didn't – "

"Yes you _are _lying to me." Cora now said as she raised her voice and stood up.

"Cora – "Henry started, "There's no need to – "

"Quite Henry." Cora sent him a furious look.

"I do not tolerate this, Gina. You're not going."

Gina smiled unbelievingly. "Well I'm glad that is not your call to make then!" She spat back.

"Yes you are, or you can find another place to stay."

"Cora – "

"Quite Henry!"

"You've _got_ to be kidding me!"

"But _why_ did you _lie_ to me Gina!" Cora now said angrily.

"Well _maybe_ because the way you're reacting right now is the reason why I didn't tell you. Why I didn't _want _to tell you. Why I didn't _dare_ to tell you. Because _every_ time there is something you don't like, something I do, somewhere I go, someone I meet _you_ don't like, you threaten to throw me out! And, you cannot _do _that all the time! You cannot play these kinds of mind games with me! So I'm going to go upstairs now to pack my stuff and then I _am_ going to go to New York. I'll leave two tickets to the premiere behind for you. And you decide what you do. If you want to kick me out. _Fine! Do so._ But then don't show up at the première either!" And with that she grabbed her phone, turned around and walked the stairs back up to her room, slamming the door as loud as she could.

Cora sighed and let herself fall back in her chair.

"I take it back." Henry said.

Cora looked at him questioningly.

"I take back what I said to you last night. You haven't changed. I thought you had, when I saw you with her last night. But I was wrong. Even when you were comforting her like that, you did it for your own ends. You just want her to trust you enough, to love you enough, to be dependent on you enough so she does exactly what you want her to do. So she is exactly what you want her to be. And I may have let you go through with that the first time. But I won't let you ruin her the second time." And with that he stood up from his chair and walked away.

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

Angrily Gina put clothes and other stuff in a suitcase. She was so done with all of this. A part of her hoped Cora would kick her out, so she would be free and away from the constant watching eye of the woman. But immediately as she thought that she regretted it. She didn't really want to go, she – loved the woman, dare she say it. Her negative thoughts got interrupted by her phone that had started to buzz again. Immediately she let all her thoughts about Cora go and jumped to her phone. _[D has sent you a message] _Quickly she opened the little envelop that was on the screen.

_[Do you have rehearsal today too? If not, I thought I could take you out to somewhere?]_

A smile immediately showed on her face. [_I have rehearsals till 7:00 PM, you can pick me up at the theatre if that's okay?]_

_[It's a date.] _Was the immediate response.

Happily Gina made a little pirouette in her room. Since she had gone to have breakfast with Daniel the day Collin had broken up with her, they had kept contact. The first time he had asked her just for a casual drink and lunch, but it was clear already then that they liked each other in more ways than just as friends. So after a week she had decided to ask him on a date. She had known she would have to do it because Daniel wanted to take it slow for her sake. He wasn't sure how fast she wanted to move on after her break up with Collin, and respected that, which spoke in his favor, she thought.

After a very successful first date, resulting in their first kiss, more had followed. In fact, she had even made up a few rehearsals so she could go to Boston to be with Daniel. Because Daniel could come under no circumstances to Storybrooke. Gina first wanted to explore what she had with Daniel without any meddling of the Storybrooke townspeople. She couldn't help but feel like the way she and Collin had broken up had partly been because of Storybrooke and everything telling her what to do and what not. So this time she would keep her boyfriend on a safe distance from the little town until she was sure it was 'safe' to go. They would meet at the première anyways, and then would be soon enough to introduce him to everyone.

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

"O look who's here. Gina Mou_lin_. Tell me, when are you going to admit your last name is fake? You just chose a French name to stand out."

Gina rolled her eyes as she entered the theatre in New York. "Good day to you too, Monica." She said as she walked past the girl to her friends. Monica however, wasn't satisfied with this lack of interest from Gina. "Yes, you quickly go to your pathetic loser friends over there!"

Gina slowly turned around and glanced at the blond haired girl that was standing alone doing her stretching exercises. "Well, dear. I'm very sorry you feel that way. But the thing is. Some people are just more likeable than others. So I'm very sorry that you don't have such a group of friends to go to, but that's really not my problem, nor is it necessary to take your frustrations out on me and my friends. And by the way, you might want to practice a little more, because that split looks awful." And with that she walked away with an arrogant look and her head high. She knew she was being mean, but some people just asked for it, she thought.

They rehearsed for three hours non-stop. It was mainly about getting to know the stage, learning where the props were and how to get your costume changed within time. At seven they were allowed to go and Gina quickly changed into her own clothes and left the building. Daniel was already waiting for her, he was leaning with his back against the wall when she saw him. He saw her at the same moment and waved as he walked up to her.

"Hi. I've missed you!" He said, as he gave her a kiss.

"Well good." Gina said, when he teasingly poked her side she laughed. "And maybe I've missed you too." He kissed her again.

"Where are you going to take me?" She asked after she broke the kiss.

"It's a surprise."

"Really!? Will I like it?"

"Of course you will. Or, that I hope." He said as he pulled her in to him as they started to walk.

"Gina! Wait!"

As Gina turned around she saw Monica running towards them.

"Great, what does she want again." Gina murmured before putting on a fake smile.

"Monica, how can I help you."

"Gina. I wanted to apologize for my behavior this afternoon. I was mean. I'm sorry. Here, I got you some cookies. I made them this morning and I thought I might as well give some to you to make up for my behavior."

"O – wow. Monica. Thank you. You shouldn't have done that. I couldn't accept – "

"I insist on it. Please don't make this any harder for me than it is already."

Gina smiled and nodded. "Why thank you. I'll let you know how they tasted." She said.

Monica smiled back. "I got to go now. Bye, see you tomorrow." And the blonde haired girl ran off just as quick as she had come.

Surprised Gina walked back to Daniel as she opened the bag of cookies and took a bite of one.

"That was Monica, apologizing for being such a bitch to me earlier today. She gave me these cookies to make up for it. So weird." Gina said to him. "You want one?"

"Well no one can possible _not_ like you. So I'm not surprised. And no thanks, I don't want. As a matter of fact, you shouldn't be eating them too." Daniel said with a grin as he took the bag out of her hands before she could get second. "It would ruin my surprise."

"I'm sorry." She smiled. "You just should have told me what we're going to do, then I would have known I couldn't even eat a few chocolate cookies. What are you planning on doing with me? Are you going to feed me fat like the witch from Hansel and Gretel?" she teased.

"Fine, fine. Then we'll do something else. No surprise for you." Daniel teased back.

"No no! I'll behave, I promise. I do want the surprise! I do!" Gina said quickly as she put her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes pleading. "Besides, I don't know what she put in those cookies, but they didn't really taste that well."

"Now _that's _actually a good thing." Daniel said with a smile as he planted a kiss on her nose. "Because the worse the taste in your mouth is right now, the better my surprise will be to you when we get home."

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

"O my god, what did she put in those damn cookies!" Gina cried out, tears in her eyes as she was bended over the toilet. She was throwing up for about fifteen minutes now. "She did this on purpose. I swear!" Daniel was sitting next to her rubbing her back. "You really think she would do something like that?"

"Yes she would. I was mean to her, but she deserved that, and what I said was true. She really doesn't have any friends and her split really _did_ look awful. So now she pays me back like this." And with that she felt another wave of vomit coming up.

"I'm so sorry. I'm ruining your surprise and everything." She said after, as Daniel hold her hair back. On their way back home to Daniel's hotel room she had already started to feel sick and as soon as Daniel had unlocked the door she didn't know how fast she had to get to the bathroom. On her way she saw Daniel had made a wonderful dinner for the two of them. Sushi was standing on a table and candles were burning.

"That's okay honey. It's not your fault. And I'm feeling just as bad for you because you're feeling so sick."

Gina sighed as she stood up from the toilet and washed her face in the sink. "I believe it's all out now." She said and she took a toothbrush and some toothpaste from the cupboard.

When she was done brushing her teeth for the third time she breathed unladylike in Daniels face. "Still smelling like I ate a death animal?"

Daniel answered by capturing her lips with his own. "Nope." He said after he broke the kiss. "You're kiss worthy again."

"Good. Then I suggest we skip the dinner, because I'm honestly not very much feeling like eating raw fish right now, and move on to…dessert." She said as she slowly closed the space that was between them and then kissed him softly.

* * *

"Okay. Now we have to get you something to eat." Daniel said. He was laying on his back in the big king size bed of the hotel room. Gina was laying half on top of him and he was playing with her hair as she just lay there quietly. "I haven't heard your stomach rumble like that since the first time I met you." She laughed and went to sit up, folding the sheets around her. "Well it's partly your own fault, mister. You've kept me busy!" She teased.

"Well then I guess I'll have to take my responsibilities and find you something to eat. So what do you want? You can still have the sushi? I've put as much in the fridge as I could so we could still go for that?" Daniel said as he got up from the bed.

"Sushi it is."

"I'm really nervous for the premiere." Gina said as she watched Daniel get the sushi from the fridge.

"Don't be. You'll do awesome."

"How do you know. You've never seen me rehearse."

"Well that's not my fault. Rehearsals in Boston are closed, and you don't let me come to Storybrooke." Daniel said as he came back to sit on the bed with a platter of sushi. "But, what I've heard from when you sing for me here. When we're alone. You'll do just fine."

She blushed. "But it's suddenly all going so fast."

He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well you still got a few days before the big day. Plenty of time to get ready I'd say."

Gina shook her head confused. "A few days? I don't have a few days!? The premiere is the day after tomorrow!"

"No it's not. You said, the première was the 28th. And the day after tomorrow is.." Daniel said as he reached for his agenda and was searching for the right day. "the day after tomorrow is….the 28th."

"See." Gina said triumphantly.

"Shit." Was all Daniel said.

"What is it?"

"Gina, really, I'm very very sorry. But I can't come."

"That's nonsense. Of course you can." Gina said stubbornly.

"No honey. I really can't. I have to be in Boston then. There is this big course I have to follow then. If I don't I lose my license as a doctor. You know how strict they are with that, you said you've studied to become a vet yourself for a while." Daniel said as he took her hand in his and caressed it with his thumb.

Gina sighed. It was true. She knew how strict the board could be, if you didn't keep your knowledge up to date you lost your license. She couldn't ask that of Daniel. And, if this would go alright, then there should be more premières he could go to. It was weird, she thought. She was sure that, when she was still with Collin, there would have been no way that she would have accepted this. But with Daniel everything was so different. With Daniel everything felt more real, while at the same time everything seemed to be better and more beautiful when she was with him.

"I understand." She said. "I know how strict the board is. I'll just have to do so well that there will be other premières you can see me shine in. But know what you're missing, mister." She teased as she let herself fall back in the pillows.

Daniel smiled. "You're amazing. I love you."

Gina smiled too, but she didn't say it back. Not because she didn't love him. Because she did, after these few weeks she loved Daniel already even more than she had ever loved Collin. But the point was. Collin had said he loved her too, he'd said it very often and yet he had left her. He had left her because he had found money more important than her. So how could she know Daniel wouldn't do the same? And therefore, she decided to don't say it back until she was absolutely sure Daniel felt the same way about her as she did about him. And she saw Daniel understood. That was part of what was so great about him. He could read her like an open book most of the time, there was hardly anything she could hide from him. Daniel knew Collin had betrayed her trust, and that she was more careful know, and that was okay for him. He knew she loved him, and he knew he loved her, and if she wanted to take her time to make herself sure of that, then that was okay.

When they had finished the sushi Daniel took the platter away.

"I'm tired." Gina stated.

"Well, it's 11:00 p.m. and you've had a long day, so I guess that's no less than normal." Daniel stated as he went to lie next to her in the bed. She smiled to him and then snuggled happily under the covers close to Daniel. That was something else that was so great about Daniel. She never had nightmares when she was with him. Never. So for the first time in days she wasn't afraid to go to sleep, and she fell asleep rather quickly, safe in the arms of her own prince Charming.

**Is that a quick update or what ****! You all begged me to update soon, so I thought I could do so for once ;)! I hope you liked this chapter. I sure liked writing it ****!**

**Please R&R!**

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**Metope**


	15. Chapter 14

**I'm sorry in advance for any grammar and spellings mistakes. There may be more in this one than there are usually, but I'm very tired and I just really wanted to have this chapter up here ****.**

**Thank you all for the positive reactions to last 'stablequeen' centered chapter ****!**

**D**

"I still don't understand why I'm here."

"To support Gina. Now stop whining." Belle said as she took Rumpel by his arm and dragged him to where the rest of the group was standing. They had just arrived at the hotel in New York they were all staying, Belle, Gold, Cora, Henry sr., Snow, David, Emma, Henry jr, Ruby and Ashley.

The ride to New York hadn't been too bad, at least for Belle it hadn't been. She'd been in the car together with Rumpel, Emma, Ruby and Ashley. Resulting in Snow, David, Henry sr. Cora and Henry jr. to be in the other, causing the ride to be extremely awkward for them. Snow had almost had a heart attack when she had seen Henry sr. alive, walking and talking like nothing ever happened.

"Yes. That's what I don't understand." Gold grumbled. "What have I ever done to her, that she wants me here?"

Belle sighed. "Well maybe she just invited you because she wanted me to come and I wanted to go, but she knew I'd only come if you'd come with me. Just believe that if that makes you feel any better."

"So what now?" Henry asked as he looked at his mother.

"Well. It's 7 PM so I suggest we go find something to eat. Gina said she was done with rehearsal at 9 and she would come to meet us then." Emma said and Snow nodded.

"Okay everyone." David said "Let's go find some place nice to eat then."

Gold sighed.

"O believe me, Rumpel." Cora said as she walked past him. "I find all of this just as horrible as you do. But I guess it's what we'll have to do to get through all of this."

"Well, at least you _want_ to see your daughter perform. My liberation won't be until we're back home again."

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"You all came!" Gina exclaimed happily as she left the theatre and saw all her friends waiting for her. "Of course we came." Snow said as she hugged Gina.

"Did you all have a nice trip?"

"It was ok." Cora said with a fake smile.

"Gina are you coming!?" Gina turned around to see her friends waiting for her at the end of the street.

"Yes yes, just a second!" Gina said as she turned back to Cora and the rest.

"We're going out tonight. Because it's like the last night we really can before we'll have shows most nights, and will need the other nights to get our rest. You're all coming right?"

"Shouldn't you be resting tonight too already, since the premiere is tomorrow?" Ruby asked.

"Maybe." Gina smiled. "But we won't make it late, we're just going to drink something n a pub or so."

"Well in that case, we'd love to come with you." Ashley smiled.

"I think I'll pass." Cora said.

"Ah no. Cora. You should come too. Please? It will be fun." Gina smiled, she had forgotten all about the fight she had had with Cora before she left already.

"Yes Cora. Maybe we should just go." Henry sr. said. He didn't really know what pubs were like in this world. But he figured it couldn't be much different from the pubs in their world, and about those he knew two things. One that they weren't too bad, and two that Cora hated them. Besides, he wanted to spend as much time with his daughter as possible, so he could get to know this young girl.

"Yes. Now you'll have to Cora." Snow said with a smirk on her face, knowing exactly why Henry had encouraged Cora to go, just to tease her.

Cora sighed. "Fine."

"Uhm, guys. Me and Gold do are going to go back to the hotel." Belle now said.

"Ah, why?" Ruby asked disappointed.

"Because Mr. Grumpypants here really doesn't want to go." Belle said and she pointed to Rumpel who was standing next to her. "Besides, I don't presume you were planning on taking Henry with you right? He's only 14." Henry who had tried to be as quite as possible silently cursed for his plan to be ruined.

Emma laughed. "You're absolutely right."

"Well okay." Ruby said. "Well, see you at the hotel then."

"Okay. Let's go then." Gina said after they'd all said goodbye to Gold, Henry and Belle.

Quickly Gina ran to the group of friends that was still waiting for her.

"That Elisa girl is among those friends of her." Cora suddenly said to Ruby as they watched Gina interact with the group. "Well it's a good thing then after all that you decided to stay." Ruby smiled.

* * *

Henry was observing his daughter while he was sitting at the bar. They had all had some drinks and at a certain moment Gina's friends of the theatre had dragged her to the little stage that was in the back of the café. They had started the karaoke that was standing unused in the corner and now music was sounding in the café while they took turns singing and dancing. He still couldn't believe that he was here. Alive. In this world. Everything was still overwhelming to him, the cars, the speed with what everything in this world seemed to go, the kind of music, the clothes. But above all, he was surprised about his daughter. Being so happy and free, dancing and laughing with her friends. He watched as she climbed the stage again as a new song started to play.

…_._

Suddenly Henry felt something vibrating next to his hand. As he looked away from Gina to see what it was, he saw it was her phone. Before he could see why it had buzzed Cora had grabbed the phone and opened it. "Who is _D_?" She asked.

"Well. That's quite an issue." Ruby said, who was sitting next to Henry and Cora, Ashley next to her.

"O?" Cora asked, raising her eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes. She doesn't want to tell us who it is either." Ashley said.

"So we think she has a boyfriend she's not telling us about." Ruby added, causing both Henry and Cora to almost choke in the drinks they were just taking a zip from.

"Boyfriend?" Henry asked.

"Well. We're not a hundred percent sure of course. But every time she gets a message from him, she doesn't know how fast she has to read it and has to respond. She gets this goofy smile on her face then and she gets all red when you ask her about it. Evidence enough if you ask me." Ruby said.

"Why such a long face Cora?" Emma asked as she joined the four at the bar.

"We were talking about the mysterious _D_ who's been texting Gina for weeks now." Ashley.

"O, her secret boyfriend." Emma smiled.

"You knew, Sheriff? And you didn't say or do anything?" Cora asked unbelievingly.

"Uh, yeah. I knew, but I don't really see why I should have done anything?"

"No of course you don't." Cora sneered. "We don't know anything about this man, it could be a criminal or a lover boy. But o no. Better do nothing about it."

Emma just laughed. "Look Cora, I don't think this mysterious lover of Gina is a serial killer or something. Gina is a smart girl. If she doesn't want us to know about him, she will have her reasons for that."

Cora didn't seem convinced.

"But.." Ruby started. "if you want to be sure he's nothing dangerous. You should just look through her messages. You have the chance now."

"O shut up Ruby!" Ashley said. "You're just saying that because you want to know who he is."

"Yes, so what?"

"No, that's actually a rather good idea of Miss Lucas." Cora said. But before Cora was able to go to the inbox of Gina's phone Henry had grabbed the phone out of her hands.

"No, Cora."He said. "As Miss Swan already said: Gina is a smart girl, if she doesn't want us to know who this _D_ is, she'll have her reasons for that. And we shouldn't go look through her messages then."

Cora pursed her lips into a thin line. "Fine. I'll go ask her myself then." She said as she stepped from the bar stool and walked up to Gina who was talking and laughing with Snow and a couple of friends she didn't know. "Cora. Do you have a nice time?" Gina asked smiling as she spotted Cora.

"Yes dear." Cora smiled. "Gina, I wanted to ask you something. Who's this _D_ your texting with all the time? What does he want from you?"

Gina was glad that it was rather dark in the pub, so Cora couldn't see how she turned red as soon as Cora had mentioned Daniel.

"O, just a friend from the theatre. No one important. Why? Did he leave a message?" Gina asked, her voice sounding just a little too eager in the end, betraying _D_ was much more than 'just a friend'.

Cora sighed, Gina clearly didn't want to tell her who he was, and maybe this wasn't the right place to figure it out after all. She would just try to get her hands on Regina's phone one day soon to find out.

"Yes. You left your phone with Henry and he said your phone went buzzing."

"O. I'll just go check." Gina said and she immediately left Cora and Snow behind.

"D, as in, the secret boyfriend D?" Snow asked.

"Why does _everyone_ seem to know about this man except for me?" Cora now exclaimed.

Snow laughed. "Well if you wouldn't be so busy with trying to control her every move, and would just try to talk with her about her life once in a while, you'd know things like this." She then said seriously.

"I believe you're forgetting who you're talking too Mrs Nolan." Was all Cora said as she walked away. As she walked back to the bar she saw Gina leaving the pub, phone in her hand. Instead of going on towards the bar she decided to follow her daughter instead.

Gina was standing outside, phone to her ear. _"O really?"_ She could hear Gina say.

"_Yes, they all came."_

"_Well it's not my fault you are not here to meet them."_

Gina laughed as she was walking in little circles on the sidewalk.

"_I miss you. I know you had to go but I'd really rather have had you here."_

"_I know. It's just, I've not been feeling too well lately. Probably just stress for tomorrow, but when I'm with you that always seems to help."_

Cora went back inside, she had heard enough. As much as her daughter seemed to have changed, she still was the same lovesick fool, the same girl that fell so easily in love.

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The next day they spent with sightseeing New York while Gina was back in the theatre again. Except for Emma no one had ever been to New York yet so there was plenty to do.

They had a surprisingly nice day, everyone was working along, even Cora and Gold. And at 8 o'clock they were all sitting in their best clothes in the big theatre.

"I'm going to the toilet one more time." Cora suddenly said and she stood up, she left her purse behind. "I'm going with you." Ruby said. "Me too." Ashley, Belle and Snow said at the same time, and laughing they stood up from their chairs.

As soon as she was gone her phone started ringing. Great, Henry thought, why is it every time I'm alone with such a weird device – David and Gold weren't paying any attention to the buzzing phone - it goes off. _Gina calling_ the phone display said. With a little effort Henry managed to take the call.

"_Cora?"_

"No this is Henry, Gina. What is it?"

He heard her sigh at the other end of the line. "_Where is Cora?"_ Her voice sounded little.

"To the toilet. Is everything okay Gina?"

"_Yes, yes. I'm just a little stage frightened at the moment. That's all."_

"O but I'm sure you'll do just fine Gina. Just sing as you did the first time we met and everything will be fine." Henry said.

"_Thank you Mr. Mills."_

"You're welcome Gina. Are you alright now?" He heard someone calling her name in the background.

"_I think I am yes. Thank you. I got to go now. I hope you'll like the show."_

"I'm sure I will. Bye Gina." And with that he ended the call.

Five minutes later the ladies returned to their seats, and it didn't take long before the curtain went up and the show started.

* * *

"There they are!" Ruby pointed at the stairs. They were standing in the foyer after the show waiting for the cast to come down. Press was standing around the stairs in a circle. The flashes of their camera's lighting the room as soon as the first cast members came down the stairs. Gina and her antagonist were the first to come down. She was wearing a long strapless dark red dress with golden accent and her hair was up in a beautiful bun. She posed with the cast on the stairs for a while, and then decided it had been enough, walking further down the stairs to her friends. She beamed with happiness and pride. It was surprisingly Cora who was the first to walk up to her. She had been totally amazed by her daughter's performance. She had sung and acted so incredibly well, Cora had forgotten everything around her while she watched.

"Cora how – "Gina started, but more she couldn't say as she was silenced by Cora pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm so incredibly proud of you right now, Gina. You know that?" She said as she kissed the girls cheek. "Thank you, Cora. I'm really very glad you liked it." Gina said, as she blushed a little, not used to Cora being so affectionate towards her.

"Gina, you were amazing." Snow said as she and the rest now joined Cora.

Cora set a step away from Gina to let the others pass.

Gold went to stand next to her. "Is that a tear I see there in the corner of your eye, Cora?"

"Shut up Rumpel." Was all she whispered. She wasn't going to let tonight be ruined by the little imp or that _D_ or anyone else. Tonight she was just going to be proud of her daughter.

**Song is Brighter than the Sun by Colbie Callait**

**I hope to update again tomorrow ****!**

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**Metope**

**And don't forget to R&R!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Thank you once again for your lovely reviews. They really encourage me to continue writing ****!**

**Surprise Surprise**

"Hello? I'm home! Anybody there?" Gina closed the front door of Cora's house behind her and put her bags on the ground in the hall. She heard voices coming from the living room, but they clearly hadn't heard her coming home. Slowly she walked towards the living room, the door was half open. In front of the door she stopped, she didn't know why, but something told her to listen what was being said in the room before she should make her presence known.

Through the door opening she saw Henry and Cora both sitting in one of the chairs at the fireplace.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She heard Cora say with an unkind voice.

"You know exactly what I mean, Cora. You have to stop trying to control her. It's not right, and you're not her mother." Henry's voice.

"Not un this world no." What did she mean by that, Gina wondered. "Besides," Cora continued. "I don't try to control her. I am just guiding her. So she can live her life in a way she was meant to do."

"Enough! Listen to what you're saying! I'm not letting you ruin her again!" Gina saw how Henry stood up from his chair, his back turned towards her.

"No you listen to _me_!" Cora said angrily as she stood up too.

Maybe this was a good time to go in to keep the clearly unpleasant situation from escalating.

She couldn't have chosen a worse moment.

In her anger Cora sent a spell towards Henry causing him to fly backwards, at the same moment however Gina entered the living room, eyes growing wide as she saw Henry flying towards her.

A scream escaped from her lips and in a reflex gesture she put her arms in front of her prepared for the clash. The clash, however, didn't come, instead she felt herself flying through the air, her head hit the table that was standing in the hallway and then everything went black.

* * *

Henry got back on his feet as soon as he could. Cora rushed past him into the hallway to get to Regina, her face white of fear and shock. Their daughter was lying unconscious in the hallway.

"Cora what did you do." Henry asked, his eyes were filled with worry for his daughter and anger because of his wife. "She still has her magic." Was all Cora said, disbelieve in her voice. "She saw you coming towards her and made a shield as a self-defense mechanism. She didn't do it on purpose, therefore she wasn't controlling what she was doing, causing her shield to explode when it made contact with my spell."

Henry went to stand next to Cora who was now down to her knees to see how Gina was doing. Lightly she shook the shoulder of her daughter.

"Gina. Gina, can you hear me?"

Slowly Gina opened her eyes, grabbing to her head almost immediately. "Wh- What happened?"

"You hit your head against the table in the hallway. You fell." Henry said.

"I can't remember." Gina mumbled, still holding her head.

Both Cora and Henry felt relieved at Gina's statement, it saved them a lot of explaining. "Come." Cora said as she helped Gina up on her feet. "We're going to get you in bed. You need to rest. You hit your head pretty hard."

"Not to be rude. But why are you home actually? I thought you would stay in New York a little longer?" Henry asked as he helped Gina go up the stairs together with Cora.

It had been 8 weeks since the premiere. Gina had quickly found a little apartment and had stayed in New York. It was easier that way, since she had to do 3 or 4 shows a week.

"I just missed home." Gina said softly. "I got a few days off, and I absolutely love it in New York, but as soon as I get near the theatre I get followed by photographers and all that, I just wanted some rest."

Henry nodded understandingly. The company producing the musical had set up a big promotion campaign for the musical. Right after the première Gina had visited many TV shows, late night shows, and had given a lot of interviews. Critics were lyrical about the new found talent and the many appearances she had made in the media had caused her star to rise very quickly.

"O" Gina said, they had gotten to her room by now. "My bag is still down, my pyjamas are in there."

"I'll get them for you. You just lay down already honey." Cora said, and she left the room.

Henry helped Gina to sit on the bed; he went to sit next to her. Almost immediately she leaned in to him, letting her head rest against his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She said. "It's just – my head hurts, and I'm afraid that when I go to lie down now I'm out cold immediately."

"That's okay, Gina." Henry said with a small smile.

He felt her sigh and then he felt how her body went limp. He wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling. First he was afraid she had fallen unconscious again, but when he heard her even breathing he knew she'd fallen asleep already. He smiled again and stroked her hair with his free hand. His beautiful daughter, sleeping in his arms, he didn't think that would ever happen again.

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The following morning Henry, Cora and Gina were having breakfast together. _Just like a normal family_ Cora thought cynically. Gina still seemed to not remember anything about what had exactly happened yesterday. They ate their breakfast quite, all being rather tired. Cora and Henry had taken turns to wake Gina through the night every hour, just in case. Cora stood up from her chair and went to the kitchen; she came back with a small basket. "I've cooked some eggs, do you want one?" She asked as she held the basket out to Gina. "Uh – I – " Gina turned her face away from the basket. Suddenly she moved her chair back, stood up and ran to the bathroom.

"Gina? Is everything okay?" Cora asked as she followed her daughter to the bathroom. She heard the toilet flush and Gina cough a few times. "Yes – I'm alright now. It's nothing." Gina said and she came out of the bathroom again.

"Maybe we should stop by the hospital later today, just in case. You might have hit your head harder than we thought yesterday." Cora said concerned as they walked back to Henry together.

"No. There's no need for that." Gina said. "I feel fine now. It's nothing serious."

Later that day Emma stopped by at Cora's.

"Hey." She said. "Is Gina home? I heard she was in town again?"

Cora shook her head. "No she's at the theatre, practicing again."

"Good." Emma said. "May I come in?"

Cora nodded. "What is it you want to talk about sheriff?" Cora asked as Emma walked into the living room and greeted Henry who was reading a newspaper there.

"Well." Emma started. "I'm sure I won't have to tell you two that it's Gina's birthday in two days. And, we thought it would be nice to plan a surprise party for her at Granny's, and I guess you two need to be there."

"Uh- well..Of course I know it would be her birthday in two days. But I figured that since she doesn't remember anything of her past life, it could very well be, her birthday isn't on that day anymore." Cora started.

"Yes yes." Emma said. "That's what I said too when Henry, cause it was Henry that came with the idea, told me. But he said he checked her facebook, and the date is still the same."

"Well in that case, of course we will be there." Henry said happily from the couch and Cora nodded.

"I'm happy to hear that." Emma said. "Then there is one more thing I need you to ask. I need you to find out what the phone number of the mysterious _D_ in Gina's phone is."

"Why?" Cora asked, eyebrows raised.

"Because we all decided that it is about time that we figure out who he is. So we thought what occasion would be better for that than her surprise party? We could _lure_ him here with that. And then it would be like, a double surprise for Gina." Emma said getting all excited about their 'master plan'.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Henry asked. But Cora smirked, she had been thinking for weeks what would be a good way to get to know who this D was. This would be a perfect opportunity indeed. "I'll do my best." Cora said.

Suddenly they heard the front door opening and closing again and voices coming from the hallway. Both Cora and Emma went to look who it were, and saw Gina and Ruby standing in hall. Gina was still wearing dancing clothes, although these were different from what she was normally wearing. Instead of the leggings, skirts and tight fitting tanktops she normally wore while practicing she now wore a wide baggy shirt, hiding her figure, and a legging. "I'm serious Ruby. I'm fine. I just got off balance. That's all."

"Well you were off balance a lot then today. And you really don't look that well." Ruby said firm. "So no more dancing for you young lady."

"Everything okay?" Cora asked. "You sure you don't want to go to the hospital? – Gina hit her head yesterday pretty bad, maybe she was off balance because of that – " Cora explained to Ruby and Emma.

"No, it's really nothing Cora. I just wasn't concentrated enough." Gina said as she walked into the living room, she limped a little. "I landed badly on my foot." Gina said knowing it would be the next thing Cora would ask.

"Well I should be going again." Ruby said. "Wait Rubes, I'm coming with you. Just one more thing." Emma said and she walked back to the living room again.

"Gina?"

"Yes?"

"I heard from Mr. Gold that Mr. Bae and Collin are coming to visiting him tomorrow. I don't know for how long they will stay. I thought you might want to know."

Gina shrugged. "Let them do whatever they want. I don't care, as long as he stays away from me, I've no problems with him being here. But thanks for telling me." She said with a smile.

Emma nodded and then went to leave together with Ruby.

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"They can be here any minute now. Quick, is everything done?" Snow was standing nervously in the diner bossing everyone around laying the last hand on the preparations for Gina's surprise party.

"Emma shouldn't you be going to get our mystery guest?" Ruby asked.

The same day Emma had asked, Cora had texted Emma the number of _D_. There had been a short conflict about who should call, Henry jr. Ruby or Emma, but Emma eventually won:

"_What shall I say?" Emma asked._

"_You just say it's Gina's birthday in two days, and that we're throwing her a surprise party, and that you would like him to come." Henry said._

_Emma nodded and dialed the number. The call got quickly answered._

"_Hello?"_

"_Hi, this is Emma Swan. I'm a friend of Gina." Emma started._

"_O hello Miss Swan. Yes, Gina talks quite often about you. What can I do for you?" The man asked._

"_Well. As you might know it's Gina's birthday in two days, and we're throwing her a surprise party, and we would really like it if you'd come too."_

"_I'd love to come. Do I need to bring something, and what time and where is it?"_

"_Uhm, you don't need to bring anything, except for yourself of course." Emma lamely joked. "and the party starts at 20:30, I'll text you the address. It's best if you text or call me when you're almost there. I'll pick you up at the town border then."_

"_Okay. That's fine. I'll make sure I'll be there." The man said._

"_Great." Emma said. "See you then. Bye."_

"_Mom!" Henry exclaimed. "You're such a fool!"_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_You didn't ask him for his name. Now we still don't really know who he is." Henry said._

"_O how stupid of me!" Emma said. "I was so nervous I forgot."_

"No." Emma answered Ruby's question. "He just texted the traffic is holding him up. He would call, once he'd get there. But I do better get outside. You'll see he'll call at the moment we have to hide for Gina." And with that she left the diner at the same time her phone went off.

"Emma Swan."

"_Hi. Miss Swan. This is Daniel."_ So Daniel was his name, Emma thought. She had the feeling she knew that name from somewhere, but she couldn't remember anymore.

"Hi. Are you almost there?" She asked.

_"Well the thing is. I'm about 2 miles from Storybrooke, but my car broke down. So I was wondering if you could send help or something."_

"Don't worry. I'll come to pick you up myself." Emma said.

_"Thanks. I'll patiently wait for you._" Daniel joked.

"See you." Emma laughed as she went to her car, from the end of the street she saw Belle, Ashley and Gina walking to the diner. _[They're coming!]_ She texted to Ruby and then got in her car and drove off.

* * *

"Everybody hide!" Ruby yelled. "They're coming!" Quickly everyone went to their places.

They heard voices approaching and then as soon as the door opened they all jumped from their hiding places screaming: "SURPRISE!"

Gina let out a scream. "O my god!" She exclaimed and then started to laugh and cry at the same time. "I'm sorry." She said. "I'm just – very, very pleasantly surprised. Wow this is amazing. And you're all here." She said with a big smile, staring at Snow, David, Henry jr., Mr. Mills, Cora, Granny, Ruby, and even mother superior and Leroy and a few of his friends.

"Happy 20th birthday Gina." Snow was the first to come walk towards Gina and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Mrs. Nolan." Gina said happily. Then they all walked up to Gina to congratulate her. "And now it's time for cake." Granny said as she came forward with a giant birthday cake." "Wow that's an amazing cake. Did you make it yourself Granny?" Gina asked unbelievingly. "Sure I did." Granny said proudly. "And to you the honor of blowing out the candles and cut it in pieces."

Beaming with happiness Gina stepped forward, took a deep breath and blew all the candles out with one blow. Then she took the knife from Granny and cut the cake in pieces.

"Where is Emma?" Gina asked while she handed out the cake. "O, Emma is taking care of something. She'll be here soon I think." Ruby said. Gina nodded as she handed the last piece of cake to Leroy and then took her own and went to sit in a booth with Cora, Snow and Henry jr.

"Does it taste just as good as it looks?" She asked smiling.

Henry nodded. Maybe even better, try for yourself I'd say. Gina laughed and she put a piece of the cake in her mouth. As soon as she tasted the sweet flavours of the cake however, she felt nauseous. She closed her eyes for a second hoping the feeling would go away but it didn't.

"Are you okay dear?" Cora asked.

"Yes. It's nothing. I just need some air I think, that's all. Excuse me." Gina said and she stood up and left the dinner to stand outside for a second.

"I really think you should take her to the hospital Cora." Snow said. "She's been having this ever since she you said she fell. Maybe there really is something wrong."

"Yes – " Cora said, her eyes not leaving her daughter. "I should go to her."

Snow nodded and watched Cora join Gina outside. Cora said something and put a hand on Gina's shoulder, but she shook it off just shaking her head. Cora frowned, Gina clearly wasn't cooperating and Cora was getting annoyed, Snow saw. They were now facing each other, and both Snow and Henry saw that the two woman were getting mad at each other.

"Oh, this is not going to end well." Henry said and Snow shook her head.

"Aaaandddd they're yelling at each other." Snow added as she saw Gina moving her arms animatedly and Cora's eyes being dark with anger.

"Hey what's going on?" Ruby asked as she and Henry sr. joined Snow and Henry jr. in the booth.

"Cora is trying to make Gina see that she really needs to go to the hospital to get herself checked." Snow said.

"Did she feel unwell again?" Henry sr. asked.

"Yes." Snow said. "But clearly Gina doesn't want to hear anything about it. Because now they're fighting outside." The rest of the diner had noticed Cora and Gina fighting outside too and it had become rather silent in the diner as everyone was trying to follow the silent fight between Cora and Gina. "O look there on the right is Emma coming with our mystery guest!" Ashley said.

"Well I'll go greet them and make sure those two stop fighting." Ruby said as she walked to the door and opened it. They immediately got greeted by the loud and angry voices of Cora and Gina.

"For the last time Gina. You're _not _well. I _want_ you to go to the doctor!"

"For the _last _time Cora, "Gina imitated Cora's tone "There is _nothing_ wrong with me. I'm _not_ sick!"

"We've been here before. You don't KNOW that!"

"Yes I _do_!"

"How?"

Gina let out a scream of frustration.

"FINE! You want to know why I know there's nothing wrong with me? Well I _know_ because I'm just experiencing morning sickness all _day _long, because I'm PREGNANT!" Gina screamed.

Ruby was standing nailed to the ground in the door way, still holding the door open. Everyone in the diner was silent and before anyone could say anything they heard a slap, followed by a loud gasp coming from Gina. Cora's hand was up and Gina's cheek was red and with a small cut where Cora's ring had scratched her. Tears streamed down Gina's face. Cora immediately regretted her action and set a step in Gina's direction. "Gina. I'm so sorry." But Gina set a step back. "Don't" She said, her voice heavy and low because of held back tears. She ran past Cora and bumped into Emma and Daniel who had been standing only three meters from Cora and Gina during the end of their fight.

"Daniel?" Gina said confused as she looked up through her tears in the shocked and confused face of the man she loved.

Cora immediately turned around by hearing that name and her eyes went wide with shock as she saw who was standing next to the sheriff.

"No…" Was all she could say.

**Soo…thoughts? Do we like this twist or not? You tell me ****.**

**R&R!**

**X**

**Metope**


	17. Chapter 16

**Mother**

Gold had seen his grandson was struggling with something.

"What's wrong with Collin, doesn't he like it here?" He had asked Bae at some point.

"No, that's not it." Bae'd said. "I guess it's because being here reminds him of Gina. And today is her birthday."

"Ah I see." Gold said. He was in doubt whether he should tell Collin about the surprise party there was being organized for Gina in the diner. He didn't really feel like going there, and he wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to go, but when he saw his grandson sitting on the couch absently minded he decided he would tell Collin anyways.

"Hey." he said as he went to sit next to his grandson on the couch.

"Hi." Collin said back.

"You know, they're throwing Gina a surprise party at Granny's at the moment. If you'd want we could stop by so you could congratulate her?"

Collin looked surprised at his grandfather. "I thought you weren't okay with me seeing her? Besides, we didn't exactly part on good terms the last time."

"Well you can make that right too." Gold said. "And, from what I've heard from Belle, Gina might have moved on already. Something about a guy they don't know she met in Boston." It wouldn't hurt to tell Collin this, Gold thought. If the boy had any hopes in a reunion this would hopefully crush the last of it. Collin nodded. "Hm. Okay. Yes maybe I should go. I do want to see her. Just to make sure she's okay and to make up for how I left."

"Good. Let's go then." Gold said, the sooner they would get this over with the better.

"We better walk." Gold said when he saw Bae getting his car keys. "I expect the parking lot to be full with everyone coming for the party.

Aiden nodded, and so the three started to walk to Granny's diner, only to find Cora and Gina yelling at each other in front of the diner 15 minutes later.

"Wow." Collin said. "I've seldom seen her this mad."

"We better wait here." Gold said, not only because he didn't want to interrupt the fight between mother and daughter, but also because he saw sheriff Swan coming from the opposite side of the street and walking next to her was Daniel, without a doubt. And that worried Gold more than he wanted to admit. So it was better to observe what was going to happen first than jumping right into it.

Daniel and Emma had almost reached the diner now.

_"__FINE! You want to know why I know there's nothing wrong with me? Well I__know__because I'm just experiencing morning sickness all__day__long, because I'm PREGNANT!" _They heard Gina scream, followed by Cora raising her hand and slapping her daughter in the face.

"What the hell…" was all Collin said, and to be honest, Gold couldn't have said it better himself.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

"O my god." Snow exclaimed as they all watched Gina run away and bump into Daniel. "That is – "

"The stable boy." Henry sr. finished her sentence.

"Moms first true love?" Henry asked. Snow nodded.

"How can he be here. I thought that he died." David said.

"We all did." Henry sr. said.

"O my god, she's going to use magic!" Snow suddenly exclaimed pointing at Cora's hands that were glowing with purple magic.

"O no. This is not happening all over again." Henry sr. said and determined he stood up and left the diner. "I'm going too." Henry jr. stated and before any of the adults could do something he had run out of the diner.

"Henry come back!" Snow yelled after him without any result of course. "Great." She sighed as she too left the diner, followed by the rest of the diner, all unwilling to let Snow and Henry be out there all alone or too curious to find out what was going on outside.

* * *

"Wh- what did you say. Are you serious? Are you sure?" Daniel stammered but Gina did nothing but cry, she sank to her knees in front of him. Eventually she tried to say something through her sobbing out of which Daniel could only make "I'm so sorry."

He sighed and bend down to her, Emma was awkwardly standing next to the two, as she looked up to the diner she saw everyone standing outside, Mr. Mills in a conflict with Cora they tried to keep silent.

"Gina, honey. Listen to me. I can't understand a word you're saying. Try to calm down a little." But it was no use, so Daniel did what he did best. He wrapped his arms around her and hold her in a tight embrace. It worked, slowly Gina calmed down. "I'm sorry." She eventually said again.

"For what?" Daniel asked confused. "For being pregnant? Because I can hardly see how you would have to be sorry for that."

"For ruining everything. For – I don't know." Gina sobbed. "I can imagine you weren't really waiting for a pregnant girlfriend at this point in your life."

Daniel couldn't help but smile, even now she was looking out for him.

"You don't have to be sorry for that, not at all, Gina. I admit, there would have been better times, but that doesn't mean I am mad at you now, or something, or that I'm not happy, or that I'll leave you or whatever you come up with. How far are you along?"

" I don't know for sure. But I believe only 8 weeks or something." She sobbed.

"You haven't been to a doctor to check?" Daniel asked.

Gina shook her head. "No. I was afraid. It would become all so real if I did."

"Well, that's the first thing we'll do then. Come." And he stood up lifting her up with him. "They can look at that cut on your cheek too."

"Daniel. You don't have to do that. If you don't want to then – " Gina started.

"Gina. Stop it." Daniel now said firmly. "I _am_ going to take you to the hospital. Because I'm not leaving you, we're in this together. You're stuck with me. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared about how everything will work out. But to be honest, I'm so very happy, _you_ made me so happy… Are- Aren't you happy?"

"No. No I am." Gina smiled through her tears.

"Well. That's all that matters. I _love_ you Gina. It's time you get that through your head. I'm not leaving you. Ever." Daniel said, and with that he took her head in his hands and kissed her.

As soon as their lips touched a white light accompanied with a blow of wind radiated from the couple. Confused the couple let go of each other, Daniel's eyes went wide. "Regina.." He stammered. Regina said a few steps back, eyes just as wide, and then she suddenly grabbed for her head with both hands letting out a groan of pain, falling down her knees. Her whole body started to radiate a purple glow. That was when Gold decided to intervene.

"Cora!" He yelled. "You have to get to her! She's remembering but she cannot control her magic. She's going to drag us all in the remembering process if you don't calm her down now!"

"It's no use." Cora yelled back. "She doesn't want to have anything to do with me. Let that _stableboy_ do it."

"It has to be someone with magic. Cora go!" Gold yelled. Cora nodded and ran to her daughter, followed by her husband. However, as soon as they reached her Regina let out a cry and suddenly everyone present saw their surroundings change from the diner and Storybrooke streets into a green meadow, a house in the distance. They were too late.

* * *

_"Mommy! Look what I gots you!" A girl from about three years old, light blue dress with grass stains on it, black hair that had once been held up by a bow but now was hanging down her face came running to a woman everyone immediately recognized as Cora. "I've got you flowers!" The girl said happy but her face fell when she saw the anger in her mother's eyes. "Regina!" The woman scolded. "Look at your dress! You're looking awful. We'll need to punish you for this." The girl started to cry. "No mommy. I'm sorry. I just thought you would like flowers. I'm sorry. Please don't punish me. Please."_

_"Go to your room. I'll come by later when I've decided upon a fitting punishment, and let go of my skirt."Was all Cora said. Regina immediately let go of her mother and Cora walked away without looking to her daughter._

The scenery changed.

_"No mother. I'm sorry. Please! I'll be good!" Regina, 14 years old was hovering in mid air, tied with leather bands that had little spikes that bored into her skin. "You should have thought of being good when you forgot to show up for tea time. A lady is never late." And with that she let her daughter fall down on the ground, she hadn't been lifted high enough to get any serious injuries of it, but it still hurt nevertheless. Cora left her crying daughter behind._

…_._

_"I thought we could go to firefly hill." Daniel said. He was standing near a tree, Regina in her arms._

_"I can't. I've to get back. Tea time. A lady never misses her tea time." Regina said sarcastically._

_"Regina this is ridiculous. Stealing kisses. When are you going to tell your parents about us?"_

_"It's not my parents. It's her."_

_"But what can she do?"_

_"Have you not seen her magic? The question is what __can't__ she do?"_

_A scream for help. A girl on a runaway horse. Regina got on her horse as soon as she could._

_"Grab my hand!" The girl did and Regina saved the girl from the horse._

_"You've save my life.."_

_"Regina."_

_"I'm Snow. Snow White."_

…

_"Daniel!"_

_"Regina, what's wrong?" Daniel walked out of the stable he had been cleaning and took his upset girlfriend in a tight embrace._

_"Daniel, marry me."_

_"Regina, what are you doing? What's happened? Did you tell your mother?"_

_"No! Now I can never tell her. She won't understand. That girl I saved was the king's __daughter__, and now he's proposed to me."_

_"What?"_

_"My mother__ accepted!__" Regina sobbed. "The only way out is to run, for us to leave this place, for us to be married, for us to never come back."_

_"Regina, do you understand what that will mean? Life with a stable boy is a far cry from being a queen."_

_"Being a queen is nothing. Daniel, all I care about is you."_

_"Well, if I am to marry you, let's do this properly." Daniel stepped back and got a ring from his bag. Carefully he put the ring on her finger. Smiling through her tears Regina looked up to Daniel. The kiss that followed got broken by the sound of something falling. As they looked up they saw young Snow standing in the stables._

_"Snow. Dear, what are you doing?" Regina asked._

_"You said to get back on the horse. and…What are you doing with him?"_

_"Snow, I can explain.."Regina started, but the girl ran away. Regina quickly following her._

…_._

_"Why were you kissing that man in the stables? I don't understand. You're to marry my father. You're _

_to be my __mother__!"_

_"Your father, king Leopold. He's a kind and fair man. But I don't love him."_

_" I don't understand , why not?"_

_"Love doesn't work that way. Love. True love is magic. Not just any magic but the most powerful magic of all. It creates happiness." Regina said._

_"And that man in the stables, you love him?"_

_Regina laughed. "With all my heart."_

_"Then you must marry him." Snow stated. "I will go tell father right away."_

_"No no! You can't!"_

_"Why not surely he'll understand."_

_"Perhaps but not everyone, my mother for one, she will stand in the way."_

_"That's why you running."_

_"It's the only way our love can survive. Snow do you know what a secret is if you really truly want to help me. Then what you saw what I told you..You must keep it a secret. can you do that?"_

_"I think so."_

_"I need you to be certain you can never speak of us. and above all, you mustn't tell my mother. will you do that for me? :"_

_"Yes." Snow said smiling. "I promise."_

…_._

_Regina, Daniel and Cora were standing in the stables. Cora took Daniel by his shoulder and walked a few steps away from Regina with him. _

_"Daniel, if you want to have a life together, a family. Then there's one important lesson I can_

_import on you. It's what it means to be a parent. You always have to do what's best for your children."_

_"Thank you" Daniel said. " I understand. Because that's what you're doing now."_

_"Yes" Cora said as she was facing Daniel." It is." And with that she put her hand in his chest and ripped out his heart as Daniel fell to the ground, gasping for air._

_"Mother!" Regina screamed horrified. "Noooo! No!" She ran to him and kissed him, hoping true love's kiss would wake him up. When she saw it didn't work she looked up to her mother._

_"Mother why have you done this!?"_

_"Because this __is__ your happy ending." Cora said, eyes cold and emotionless staring down at her crying daughter, desperately holding the stable boy in her arms._

* * *

The scenery changed again to a bedchamber in what had to be a palace.

_Regina was trying to open the door of her room. When it didn't open she knocked on the door. The door opened and one of the woman of the court household entered her chamber. "Yes, your majesty?"_

_"Why is it I can't leave my chamber?" Regina asked._

"_Because the King told us to let you wait here for him. He'll be here soon, we should prepare you for his visit." She said. "You should wear this, your majesty." The woman held up a satin night gown._

_Fear entered Regina's eyes as she swallowed. "I – I don't want to. Not tonight. I'm not feeling well."_

_The eyes of the woman softened. "I'm sorry your majesty. King's orders."_

_A single tear rolled down Regina's face as the woman helped her to get undressed and get in to the gown._

The scenery changed to a place in the woods. Regina was standing there together with Rumpelstiltskin and a unicorn. She was holding a heart in her hand.

_"Now kill it." Rumpelstiltskin said._

_Regina started to squeeze, but stopped as she hurt the animal suffer. "I can't." She said. "It's innocent."_

_"__Nothing__ is innocent."_

A new scene showed Rumpelstiltskin, Dr. Frankenstein and Jefferson.

_"Are you satisfied with the results?" Frankenstein asked Rumpelstiltskin._

_"She did seem rather..heartbroken." He answered._

_"She is." Frankenstein said. "She bought my failure to bring her lover back to live."_

_"Thanks to your efforts. I've made my monster." Rumpelstiltskin said with an evil grin._

* * *

"_Tell me woodsman." The Evil Queen walked to her prisoner dressed in a dark dress, hair up and a ridiculous big collar around her neck. "I offered your children a place to stay. Here in my palace. I offered them everything they could ever want. And still they refused. They'rather be with you. Why?"_

"_Because we're a family." The woodsman answered. "And family doesn't abandon each other."_

_The queen's mask broke, for a moment she allowed the sadness and confusion to be seen on her face. _

* * *

_A courtyard. Snow White and Charming were sitting on their thrones as Regina got brought to the execution place by guards._

"_Do you have any last words?"_

"_Yes. Yes I do. I know I'm being judged for my past. A past where I've caused pain, a past where I've inflicted misery, a past where I've even brought dead. When I look back at everything I've done I want you all to know what I feel. And that is…regret." Regina paused as her face changed from regretful to evil again. "Regret that I was not able to cause __more __pain. Inflict __more__ misery and bring about __more__ death. And above all else, with every ounce of my being, I regret that I was __not__ able to __kill__ Snow White!"_

"_Arrows!" Charming screamed. _

"_Stop!" Snow White screamed, right before the arrows would reach Regina. "This is not the way."_

* * *

"_I'm sorry mother." Regina said, she was standing next to a coffin her mother was in._

"_Without you I never would have become the person I am now. But I had no choice. I had to do this. After you killed Daniel you told me something I've never forgotten. Love. Is. Weakness. Well mother. You are my weakness. Because I love you." Regina's eyes were filled with regret and her voice was low from trying to hold back tears._

"_That's why I couldn't risk taking you to the new land with me. Your grip on my heart is just too strong. And for what I need to do. I can't have any weakness." She bend forward and put a rose on her mother. "Goodbye mother."_

* * *

_"Did he tell you what you needed to know?" Henry asked as his daughter was walking back past him. Her hair up in a high ponytail, black clothes, wearing dark make up and ice cold eyes filled with anger and evilness were staring at him._

_"Yes."_

_"And?"_

_"I'm not sure I should say. I'm conflicted."_

_"You can tell me."_

_"I have to offer the heart of the one I loved most."_

_"Me." Henry stated._

_Regina turned around._

_"Maybe you should try to forget Regina. We could start a new life somewhere else. Forget about all of this. Try to be happy again." He took his daughter in a tight embrace._

_"You're right daddy." She sighed. "I can be happy again. Just not here." And with that she ripped his heart out._

* * *

_"Where are you taking us?" Snow cried as she held her husband in her arms, the curse surrounding them and the Queen._

_"Some place __horrible__." Regina said as she let out an evil and cold laugh._

* * *

_._

_"Here you go. Madam mayor. He's yours now." Dr. Whale said as he handed the baby over to his new mother who was looking at the little bundle with tears of joy in her eyes._

* * *

_._

_"Henry! Thank God! I was so worried. Where have you been!?"_

_"I found my __real__ mom!" The boy said as he ran past her. Confused Regina looked up staring in green eyes._

_"Hi.." was all Emma said._

* * *

_.._

_"What did you do to him!" Emma screamed angrily as she pressed Regina against the wall._

_"It's all true isn't it?"_

_Regina nodded, tears running down her face._

_"What do we do? How do we save him?"_

_"I don't know. Magic works different here."_

…_._

_"Henry. No matter what you think, no matter what anyone tells you – I do love you." _

* * *

_"Daniel! I can't believe it's really you!" Regina was standing in the Storybrooke stables._

_Daniel grabbed Regina by her throat and started to choke her._

_"Daniel – I- love you." She managed to say._

_Immediately he came to his senses, releasing her._

_She hugged him. "I've missed you so much."_

_"Regina. You have to help me. Let me go."_

_"No. I'm not letting you go again." Regina said, tears down her face._

_"Please, it hurts."_

_"No, I love you!"_

_"Then, love – again." and with that Daniel's eyes changed back again and he was once again the maniacal monster. As he tried to attack Regina again, she held her hand up creating a shield between the two of them. Tears running down her face as she made him disappear with one move of her hand._

_"Goodbye Daniel." She cried._

* * *

_Regina was standing at the town border. Her car was parked at the side of the road. She stared at the line that marked the border. Eventually she took her phone and dialed a number.  
__"Hello, I called to inform you that there is a__ …__a.. person near the border of the town of Storybrooke on the road who's really confused and doesn't know where or who she is. I thought I should call you to make sure you'd help her and take care of her." _

_"I can't call the Storybrooke sheriff, they're..occupied with certain..matters at the moment that prevent them from coming here…"  
"…look officer,"-the nice voice she used first was gone now, "it's really not that difficult. If I wouldn't be in such a hurry I would take care of the girl myself, but unfortunately I can't. Just make sure you get over here to help the girl so nothing bad will happen to her. After all, if there does happen something with the girl, you would be responsible for it, and you wouldn't want that, now would you?"_

_"Good." Regina replied as the line went dead. She erased her calling history and put her phone in her car. Then she walked back to the line, and crossed it. Her eyes went white and she fell to the ground. White light surrounded her, and when it cleared the older woman had changed into a fifteen year old girl lying unconscious in the middle of the street._

_After half an hour a police car and ambulance stopped near the border and ran to the girl that was lying on the ground._

* * *

Just as soon as they all got sucked into the memories, everything changed back to normal again. Confused everyone looked around. Ruby had tears in her eyes, Emma felt sick and Snow White was trying to comfort a crying Henry. Collin went to sit down on the sidewalk, totally confused about everything he'd just seen. His grandfather had only showed him parts of the Evil Queen. He understood why now, because she hadn't been always like that, and his grandfather clearly had had a hand in turning her evil.

Regina let out a strangled cry as she slowly opened her eyes, staring in the worried faces of both Cora and Henry sr. Immediately she crawled backwards, fear and confusion in her eyes.

"Mother?" Was the first thing she said. Cora's eyes softened, making Regina even more confused. She hadn't seen this side of her mother often. Her mother had always been cold, Regina was never good enough. But now she had memories of Gina too, and to Gina Cora had been loving and caring most of the time. She had been overly controlling too, but except for their most recent fight, it had always been rather shallow conflicts. Slowly Regina put herself back up on her feet, her legs felt weak but she managed to keep herself standing. She stared into her mother's eyes.

"Regina…" was all Cora could manage to say, but it was enough, from her tone of voice and eyes spoke so much regret that Regina didn't need Cora to say more. Slowly she said a step in Cora's direction and put her arms around her mother. Cora was first confused at the gesture but then returned the hug gratefully as she wrapped her arms around her daughter and hugged her tight, she felt hot tears coming from Regina's face as her daughter buried her head in her neck. "I hate you mother." Regina sobbed. "I know, dear. I'm sorry." Was all Cora said.

When Cora released Regina from the embrace Regina immediately got pulled into a hug by her father. "Daddy." She whispered tears starting to fall again. "You're alive. I'm so, so, _so_, sorry."  
"It's okay. I forgive you." Was all Henry said as he grabbed her shoulders and looked into her watery eyes. "I'm just extremely happy that I'm here now. That I have my sweet little girl back, and that you're happy with Daniel."

Daniel walked towards Regina from behind Henry, judging now would be a good time to make his presence known once again, while he cautiously avoided coming to near to Cora, just in case. Regina immediately fell into his arms and kissed him. "I've missed you." She whispered. "I've missed you too." He said back to her smiling.

As she was still in his arms she looked to the diner. She saw everyone standing outside looking with watery eyes at the little family reunion. Ashley, Belle, Granny, Blue, Snow, David and….Henry. "Henry." She whispered, and then louder as her eyes grew wide. "O my god. Henry has seen me drunk and partying like some rebellious teenager."  
Emma started to laugh at that. "Yes, Regina. You'll have to admit. The example I'm setting for him suddenly isn't that bad anymore."

Regina smiled as she released herself from Daniels embrace and walked up to the diner. Halfway the path she stood still, suddenly afraid of the reaction of all of them. "Hi." Was all she said. But for Henry it was enough, he came running to her and hugged her. "Mom." Was all he said as tears where running down his face. Regina softly caressed his hair. "Henry. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard this must have been for you. For all of you." She then said. "You've all been so extremely nice to me. After all that I've done."

"You didn't remember." Henry said. "So how could we stay mad? Besides, I missed you. I wasn't mad at you anymore when you came back."  
Regina sighed. "I'm sorry." She said again.

"Do you feel the same again now? Like from before you crossed the border?" Henry asked.

Regina shook her head. "No. I don't. It's weird and confusing. Part of me feels like Gina, actually most of me does. But a part of me feels like the old me too. But not as in Evil Queen old, but more as in _old _old, you know. I mean as in, with more experience and knowledge, I was like 35 or something, which is _old_. And now I've said this a part of me feels insulted for calling myself old, while I'm 20, but at the same time I'm not and…" Gina said as stopped the flow of words to breathe. "And it's just really confusing." She concluded.

Henry nodded. "Yeah..You're still 20, which is weird for me too. And I don't understand it. I mean, you remember now, the curse is broken. How can you still be twenty then?"

Regina closed her eyes. "I don't know Henry. As I said, it's really confusing for me too." And after she'd said that she felt how her legs weren't able to carry her anymore. She was exhausted. "Henry – I don't feel.." She started, and then everything went black.

"Mom? Mom!" Henry said frightened as he held the limp body of Regina in his arms. David quickly ran forward to take over from his grandson.

"Regina? What's wrong!?" Daniel asked as he ran towards David.

"I think nothing serious, she's just exhausted. But we better bring her to the hospital to get her checked." David said.

"Yes." Daniel said. "We were planning on going there anyways, since she hasn't been to the hospital yet to check if the baby is alright since she found out she is pregnant." He smiled as he watched his fiancé. The coat she was wearing had fallen open and a small bump was visible under her t-shirt. Daniel couldn't be happier at that moment. He was alive. Cora wouldn't be a threat anymore, so he and Regina could finally be together, and they were having a baby. He felt like nothing could go wrong anymore, they'd dealt with it all.

"David." Snow said. "You go to the hospital with Regina, take Daniel, Cora, Mr. Mills and Henry with you, they probably won't want to leave her side now anyways. The rest can come help us clean the mess in the diner. David nodded and they all did obediently what Snow had said. Ashley, Belle and Ruby followed Snow and Granny back into the diner and Cora, Henry sr. Henry jr, Daniel and David went to the hospital.

No one was paying attention to Gold, who was standing alone on the road again. Anger burning in his eyes. As soon as Bae and Collin realized he hadn't told them the entire story about Regina, Bae had decided to leave. "I thought you'd changed. But now I see you didn't, and you never will." He'd said and with that he had left, his son without a spine or the capability to think for his own – or so it seemed – followed him. This was all Regina's fault. He had expected two things to happen. One: Regina would turn against Cora and together with Regina he would finally defeat the witch and take revenge on the woman that had managed to get out of the deal he'd struck with her so many years ago. Or two, Regina would team up with Cora, and he would have team evil standing against him. Neither of the two had happened, and it made him more than angry. It was all Regina's fault that he had lost his son again. Her fault, and that of the damn stable boy. That boy shouldn't have been here. Gold didn't understand. He would have to make a plan. First he'd have to figure out who was responsible for Daniel's return, and then he would plan his revenge on both Regina and her mother.

**I had an incredibly hard time writing this chapter. So I hope you like it, or think it isn't too bad because I have been struggling with it like crazy xD. What would you like to see happen? Ideas, suggestions are very very welcome ;)!**

**X**

**Metope**

**R&R!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Mom**

As Regina opened her eyes the first thing she saw was Daniel sitting on a chair next to her bed staring at her, he smiled as soon as he saw her waking up. "Hey there. You finally decided to join the world of the living again."

She smiled at him. "Hi." She said, her voice was hoarse. She reached out for his hand and he took her hand in his, caressing it with his thumbs and giving it a soft kiss. "How are you feeling?" Daniel asked.

Regina sighed. "How am I feeling?" She repeated the question. "I'm a little nauseous at the moment and my head still feels a little heavy, but apart from that I'm fine. Physically, that is." She added. "Because honestly, I'm feeling confused and I'm afraid but I don't know of what, and I just feel like I'm going to explode."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Daniel asked, he knew talking about it would most certainly help, but he didn't want to push her.  
She shook her head. "No. Everything has been about me for far too long now. I want to talk about you. Because, as happy and as grateful as I am about you being here. And please don't get me wrong, and don't take this the wrong way..but what in the name of everything are you doing here? You should be dead. You died…._twice_."

Daniel stood up and walked to her. "It's quite a story." He said.  
"Come sit on the bed." Regina said and she made place for him. Happily he came to sit next to her and she leaned her head against his chest. "Now tell me."

"Well. When we had brought you in the hospital and the we all made sure you were taking proper care off, Cora wanted to know the same thing. At that moment the blue fairy entered the hospital and said she could explain everything. She said that Rumpelstiltskin had found a way long ago to bring back those of whom their hearts have been ripped out. Because, you're not really dead when that happens, your spirit travels to another realm and can't be brought back because there's no body to return to. But, Rumpelstiltskin apparently found a way, and for some reason he decided to bring back your father. In order to get the spell to work he needed something that once belonged to your father, so he went to your family mausoleum to find something. Well obviously he found something and he brought your father successfully back to live."

"Okay. But what do you have to do with it? I don't expect that imp brought you back too, since you weren't in Storybrooke." Regina said.

"Well that's where the Blue fairy comes in." Daniel answered. "Because, apparently, on the ring of your father that Rumpel used, was a hair from me, it probably ended up there when Dr. Whale got me out of there to try to…bring me back to life…" Daniel's voice trailed off. He couldn't remember anything of the short time he had been alive in Storybrooke, but he had seen what he'd done to Regina in her memories and it hurt him.

"Hey. What happened in the stables that day. That's _not_ your fault Daniel." Regina said, as she felt how his body tensed behind her as he referred to what Whale had done. "It wasn't you in there. Don't feel guilty."

Daniel sighed. "I can't help but feeling guilty." He said.

Regina now turned herself half around to face him. "Well, you mustn't. It's not your fault, and besides, it's something that happened 4 years ago. I think we should let the past rest, because if we don't, if we can't, then I'm going to get crazy because of the horrible things I've done in my past. Now continue with the story." She said before Daniel could say something. Instead he smiled.

"Alright. Well. As I said, a hair from me was on the ring too, so as Rumpelstiltskin performed the spell, he didn't only bring back your father, but me too. The blue fairy, however, had been informed by then about what Rumpelstiltskin was attempting to do. She knew that once he'd see me, he'd kill me just as soon as he could again. In order to prevent that from happening she teleported me out of the house the instant I was back alive. She erased my memory and gave me new ones, and that's how I ended up in Boston. She said that although you and I weren't together this way, she was sure we would be eventually, because true love always finds each other."

"But why would the Blue Fairy do that?" Regina asked. "Why would she help you, and indirectly me. She never ever helped me. No matter how hard I wished or begged."

"She said she just did what was written in the stars." Daniel answered. "but I couldn't help but feel that she somehow felt guilty for everything that has happened. Maybe this was her way to make it up to you and me." Daniel said.

Regina smiled a sad smile, as she leaned her head back against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. They sat like that for a while until Regina broke the silence. "Daniel?"  
"Hm?"  
"While I was out..did they check on the baby?" Regina asked carefully.

Daniel answered by pulling her even closer to him. "Yes. They made an ultrasound and everything is alright. Our child is perfectly healthy and happily growing inside of you. And its parents couldn't be happier with that."

Regina smiled. "Speaking of parents, do you know about the whereabouts of mine?"

"Cora is at her shop, I believe. She had to take care of a few things. Your father just went home to shower. He'll come back right after that. He will be happy to see you're finally awake."

"Finally awake? How long did I sleep?" Regina asked confused as she turned her head to see Daniel.

"You've slept for nearly two days." Daniel said as he planted a kiss on her temple.  
Regina gasped. "Well that does explain why I'm feeling so incredibly hungry." She finally says.

Daniel laughed. "Well I'll go get you something to eat then." He said as he released her from his tight embrace and stood up from the bed. Gina grinned. "What is it?" Daniel asked.

"It seems you're always finding me food." She says. "Just like the second time we first met."

Daniel smiled. "Well, if you would take better care of yourself, I wouldn't have to, young lady."

"Yes yes. Now just go. I'm hungry." Regina laughed as Daniel left the hospital room obediently.

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

Henry stared through the blinds of the window to his mother. She was sitting in the hospital bed staring at the wall in front of her. He had been standing here for about 5 minutes now, trying to find the courage to enter the room, she hadn't noticed him yet. He took a deep breath and then walked to the door and entered her room.

Her face showed a smile as soon as she saw who came to visit her. "Henry." She said happily.

"Hi." Was all he said shyly. "You're awake."

"Yes." Regina said back. "I just woke up. Daniel is getting me some food, because I'm starving."

Henry nodded, still standing at the door.

"You can come in a little more. There's a chair here next to my bed, you can sit if you want to?" She asked nicely.  
Again he just nodded as he walked to the chair, but instead of sitting he suddenly couldn't help himself but turned towards the bed and pulled his mother into a hug.

"Henry." Regina said softly as she wrapped her arms around him and lifted the boy up, as well as she could, so he could sit on the bed.

When he leaned back from her he looked to her, tears in his eyes. "Are you going to be my mom again now?" He asked.

Sadness entered Regina's eyes as soon as he'd asked and she frowned.

"Henry." She said once again. "You have to understand that I'm very confused at the moment."

"Why? You have your memory back now right? What's there to be confused about?" the boy asked.

Regina sighed, he may be fourteen now, and he may sometimes act like he knew all about everything, but he still was a boy in some things. This being one of them.

"It's not that simple honey." She said, he had turned his face away from her now, he was staring to the ground. "For four years I was Gina. I turned from 35 into a 15 year old teenager, and for four years, I've lived like that. As I said, I'm twenty now, and I'm feeling twenty, I feel, young, and free, and happy and energetic, while I should be 39. And although I have my memories back, and although I know about how it feels to be 35, how it feels to be the mayor of a town, to have a job, to be responsible, to be an adult, to be.. a mother ..that doesn't mean that I _am_ that person again. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" But although the boy still wasn't looking at her, she could tell that he didn't have a clue about what she was saying.

"Henry. What I'm trying to say, is that although I have the memories and the feelings from before everything, that doesn't mean that I am like before again. I'm somehow not able to act upon those feelings. They're in there. The knowledge, the feelings, everything, it's there, but it doesn't match with how my mind works at this moment. It's like... I know that I've raised you for ten years, I know I've changed your diapers and everything, I think I even still know _how_ to change a diaper. But despite those ten years I instantly freak out at the thought that I would have to act like your mother, that I would have to be responsible for you. Simply because I'm not _ready_ for that now, I'm _twenty_, that's no age to raise a 14 year old."

Henry looked up, he could hear how panic entered his mother's voice as she was desperately trying to explain to him how she felt. He thought he understood now. "I think I get it." He said. "Actually, the fact that you're telling me all this, proves you're not the same as before. Because the old you would have never been so honest about what she's feeling. She would just tell me what would be appropriate for me to hear. I guess it's like when you have to learn something new. You watch how someone does it, and eventually you know exactly how to do it in your head, but that doesn't mean you can bring what you now know by heart into practice with success. Not because you can't do it, or don't know what to do in theory. But just because sometimes you don't know what to do because you're not ready for it."

He saw how tension left Regina's body as she knew he'd understood what she had tried to say. "yes. I think you could compare it to that."She said. "It's not that I don't know how to be your mother, I remember everything from the ten years I was. And it's not that I don't want to be your mother. It's just that I can't act upon the knowledge I have. And don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I don't have any motherly feelings towards you, because, believe me, I do, even Gina had them, I want to protect you, I want to make sure you're alright and safe and happy at any time, but it's just different. I'm not cut out like this to fill the job of being your mom again, or actually, to share that job with Emma of course. I couldn't do it. Unless you find your mother dancing in a club being almost drunk to be a good example."

He laughed. "That sure was weird, mom. I've never _ever_ seen you like that before and.." His voice trailed off as he realized he had called Regina mom without noticing.

"It's okay Henry." She said, she had noticed the slip too. "I somehow find it comforting to hear you calling me mom. It sounds familiar to me and I love hearing it from you. You can keep calling me mom, even though I would be more like…a big sister to you now, I guess."

Henry smiled. "Good. But really, it was so weird." He said again.

Regina blushed. "Is that all you can remember about our time together? My little escapade?"

Henry shook his head. "No." He said. "What I liked the best was watching you practice your dances or hearing you sing. Before, you always sang to me when I was sick, or couldn't sleep, but it was never like this. I didn't even know you could dance and sing like this, nor did Snow, or Cora or Mr. Mills for that matter. I guess you've kept that a secret back there rather successfully."

Regina smiled sadly. "I just didn't have much reason to sing or dance back there… Besides, my mother would never approve. I was only allowed to learn the court dances, nothing more nothing less. And honestly, I didn't really want to learn more or do more with dancing or singing back then. For dancing and singing were indoor activities, meaning my mother would be there. Horseback riding however, that was when I was able to be free, so that was what I loved most. Gina found out for me that I love singing and dancing even more. At one of my first schools, when I was just released from the hospital and placed with my first foster family, they had these cultural activities you were obliged to join. It was there I found out how much I loved musical and singing, and that I was actually rather talented."

Henry nodded. "Are you going to continue?" He asked, he was now leaning in to her and she had wrapped one arm around him as he was sitting next to her.

"Honestly, I don't know. I am not schooled in performing arts or anything, and now I'll have to quit the musical I'm in so shortly after I started. I don't know if I'll ever get another chance like that again."

"You don't know until you try?" Henry said.

"You're right." Regina said, as her free hand travelled to her stomach, caressing the life that was growing inside of her.

"Are you happy with it?" He asked.

"Hm? With what?"

"With – uhm – that you're having a baby. So that you can be a mother again, but not immediately to a 14 year old."

"Yes." She smiled. "Yes, I'm more than happy with it. Even though it's such a bad timing, and I'd rather have waited a few years, I'm so happy with this baby. This baby that's entirely.." She didn't finish her sentence.

"..from you. Not like me." Henry said flatly.

"I was going to say, wanted nevertheless." Regina said with a frown. "Henry, despite what I all just said, I love you very much. You know that right?"  
He nodded, not looking at her now. "I also really cared for you when – when I didn't know who you were. So I want you to know, that, no matter what, if I would be your mother or not, you'll always have a special place in my heart." She took his chin and turned his face towards her with her hand so he had to look her into her eyes. "Do you understand that?"

He nodded again. "I love you." Was all he said.

Regina smiled, a single tear falling down her face. "I love you too. Mother, or big sister, or whatever, you'll always be my little boy, and I love you." And she pulled him into a tight hug and pressed a kiss to his head.

**A rather short chapter, but this felt like a good ending to me. And now I'm going to watch the new Once episode B).**

**Please R&R**

**X**

**Metope**

**Ps. Several people asked me to turn Regina back to her normal age, but people, that would be so weird! Daniel **_**died**_** when he was about 25, if I'd make Regina 35 again the age difference would be a serious problem to their relationship, and I don't want that. Besides, Regina being 20 means she can start over again, and I want to give her that opportunity ^^!**


	19. Chapter 18

**The Evil Queen**

"Can I come in?" Cora was standing in the door opening of Regina's room, Regina was sitting on her bed, she nodded.

"Did you pack everything?"

Regina nodded again. "Yes," she then said. "Just this bag, the rest of my stuff is at the mansion already." After she got released from the hospital, Regina asked Emma and Snow if she could move back into her old house. She may be twenty, but no one lived in the big house now she knew, and it was still her house after all. So when Emma had protested, she had dug deep, and had done the best madam mayor intimidation she was still capable off, and it had worked. So today she was getting all her stuff so that she could move into the mansion again after they had quickly cleaned up the house so she could live in it again.

"I'm glad you decided to stay in Storybrooke." Cora said as she went to sit next to Regina on the bed.

Regina shoved a little away from her, still a little uncomfortable to be this near to Cora after all that had happened between them. "Yes, well, it's only one more week till I have to get back to New York again for the show. So it's easier to stay here than to find a place somewhere else for such a short time."

Cora nodded. "I heard you've been seeing Archie."

"Yes." Regina said staring to her feet. "He helps me…to deal with everything. Because it's confusing."  
It hurt Cora that Regina didn't talk to her about what was bothering her. She was her mother, she should be coming to her for things like this. "You – You want to tell me what you talk about with Archie?"

"Uhm..well it's not really interesting or something. We just talk about random stuff." Regina felt her cheeks turn red. She didn't like it that she couldn't hide her lies from Cora. She never could. She didn't want to hurt Cora, she saw Cora was trying to be better, but at the same time she didn't want to tell what she talked about with Archie, she just couldn't.

Being here was confusing for her, but her sessions with Archie made it easier for her to cope. Henry told her she should go talk to Archie about how she felt, first she had been sceptical, how could a cricket that got his PHD from a curse be of any help, but she had put her pride aside and indeed, talking to Archie really helped.

She talked with him about how she didn't really know who she was, Gina, or Regina. She had told him she was scared that at some point, she would revert back into the cold mayor she had been before, or even worse, that she would become the evil queen again. She had even told him that she was actually extremely scared that someone would attack her. Everyone in town knew by now that she remembered everything again, and she knew that not everyone was happy about that. Many of the townspeople were scared, just like she was, that she would become evil again. And there were still some people out there that rather saw her dead than living. Daniel was at Boston at the moment, he couldn't stay away from his practice for too long, and she didn't feel exactly safe, although Archie had assured her that surely no one was planning on doing any harm to her. A lot had changed in four years, he had said. She was really grateful for how he tried to help her. Slowly she opened up to him more and more, recently they had started to talk about her past with Cora and her marriage to Leopold. Although she rather didn't, Archie told her it was important, and she believed him.

Cora sighed. "That's okay. We can talk about something else. What you want to do when the baby comes for example."

"What do you mean?" Regina asked confused.

"Well. Regina, honey, you're only twenty years old, you may have raised a child in the past but you're not the same as then. You don't have a real education, and your career as a singer has just started. You didn't possibly think that you can raise the child and still have everything you have now?"

"I don't understand, mother." Panic and fear were entering her eyes as she actually knew exactly what Cora was saying, but didn't want to hear it. "I'm not alone in this. I have Daniel, and he has a successful practice, and a place of his own in Boston. And he's trying to find something in New York, so we can move in there, so I can still pursue my career and.." her voice trailed off as she knew how her plan sounded to Cora. And, as she was honest, their plan maybe was a little too optimistic. She knew it would be hard, for both of them. But she was determined to make it work. She could start a new life, this was her chance, and she wanted to take it. She wanted a new life, with Daniel, a new life without magic.

"I think you should give up the baby." Cora said boldly.

"What?"

"You have to be realistic about this, Regina. You're not ready for this, you're still a child yourself. Giving the child up is the best thing to do." Cora said, she tried to grab Regina's hand but Regina pulled it away and stood op from the bed as she turned to face Cora.

"No! How could you even say that!" Regina yelled furiously and she got even more angry as she saw her words had little effect on Cora. Something snapped in Regina. Clearly the yelling didn't work, so maybe it was time for another approach. She released the tension that was holding her body, and changed her pose in a strong, confident one. A pose madam mayor used when she needed to intimidate someone. She let out a cold laugh. "Who am I kidding. It's no use to argue with you about this." She said, eyes fixed on Cora, who watched her daughter with a mix of confusion and fear in her eyes. "It's no use, because, you wouldn't understand. You wouldn't understand what it feels like to actually _love_ the life that's growing inside you, to cherish it. You never had that. You cannot feel that. You traded your own daughter away for power and magic. A woman, capable of doing such a cruel thing, can't possible understand anything about being a mother, about loving your own child."

Cora's face fell at the cruel accusation Regina made. Regina knew Cora hadn't had a choice at the time, that she was forced to do so because of wrong choices she'd made in the past. But Cora had found a way to get out of the deal, it wasn't fair of Regina to bring this up. But then again, the woman in front of her wasn't Regina, this was the evil queen.

Regina stared at her mother, she saw the damage her words had done to her mother reflected in Cora's eyes, and just as easily as she had turned into the evil queen she snapped out of it again.

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Listen mother." She said. "I'm sorry. But you have to understand, I'm _not_ giving this baby up. This is my chance on having a new life. It's the first time I'm pregnant and that I can actually keep the baby, and I'm not letting you ruin that for me, and - ." Regina stopped talking abruptly as she realised she had made a major slip.

Cora too had heard it. "What did you mean when you said this time you can 'actually keep the baby', Regina?" She asked.

But Regina just shook her head as she turned around and left the room.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

"Hello, Regina." Archie said as he passed by her on his way to the diner.

"Why would I have to say hello to you, bug." Regina spat back at Archie as she stood still in front of him.

"Uhm, because it's the polite thing to do?" Archie said confused, he didn't understand, something was wrong, something in Regina seemed off.

"I am not being nice to the cricket that gives all the personal secrets I share with him away the moment he sees my mother."

"Regina, I – "

"No you don't get to talk! What were you thinking! I told you that because I trusted you to keep it to yourself. But how stupid of me, to think a cricket would do such a thing! No, instead you tell her everything so I have to deal with a mother telling me how sorry she is for everything she's put me through, but still doesn't listen to what _I_ want, and concludes from it all that she doesn't want to put me to anymore difficulty and that I therefore should give up the child. Result: She hasn't changed her mind, and now she has even more information about me with what she can blackmail me!"

"Wow. Regina, is everything okay here?" Ruby asked as she walked by the two.

"Private conversation. Go take yourself for a walk." Was all Regina said without looking at Ruby.

Ruby raised her eyebrow but did as she was told.

As Archie looked back at Regina, he saw the weird look in her eyes was gone. "Regina, I'm sorry I just thought – "

"Yes I know what you thought." Regina now said softly, not letting the doctor finish his sentence once again. "You thought that she had changed, that you telling her this would help her understand me better. I thought she had changed too, Archie. But I now see it's just a very little change. She's merely changed her behaviour enough to fit in into this world. In this world she can't torture me with her magic, nor can she really physically abuse me. Psychological mind games work best here, and unfortunately for us all that's what she does best. And...I think she is trying, but us getting together again, I just don't see that happening. So, I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't tell her anything about our sessions anymore in the future, Archie."

Archie nodded, he put his hand on her shoulder, she tensed a little, but didn't turn away.

"I'm sorry Regina. I shouldn't have done it, whether it would have helped or not. I broke the doctor-patient trust and I'm really sorry for that."

Regina smiled. "It's okay Archie. I'm sorry for talking like that to you. I don't know what came over me. I'm having that a lot lately. It's part of the confusion I believe."

Archie smiled back. "Well, if you still want to talk to me, my door is always open for you."

"Thanks Archie."

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

"Henry, we need to talk."

"If this is about me still living here. You won't have to worry Cora, I'm actually just looking for houses at the moment." Henry said without looking up from his newspaper.

"It's not about that, but good." Cora said as she went on a chair near the couch. "It's about Regina." Henry now looked up from his newspaper and put it away, something in the way Cora looked and her voice was sounding told him Cora was serious.

"Did you know?" Cora asked.

"Did I know what?"

"About the pregnancies."

"The – the what?" Henry asked confused.

"I had a talk with Regina today. I told her – something she didn't want to hear, and she got mad at me and at some point yelled at me this was the first time she was pregnant and could _keep_ the baby. When I asked her what she meant by that she walked away, so I went to the cricket to ask what it had been about. I had expected he wouldn't want to give me the information, but he mumbled something about that it would help us understand each other better and explained it to me."

"What did he explain to you?"

"She's been pregnant three times already."

"From Leopold." Henry stated.

Cora nodded, she tried to tell this as emotionless as she could, but what she had to say, it hurt her too much to look totally indifferent under it. "The first two times, as soon as the King knew about it, he made sure she would drink something that made her loose the child before she'd carried it three months. The third time however, Regina hid the pregnancy, I guess that even though she didn't love the King, hated him dare I say it, she couldn't bare it to lose another child. However, he found out when she was 4 months pregnant. Archie told me how she said he got extremely mad when he'd find out. They had gotten into a huge fight and eventually she fell – "

"- from the stairs." Henry finished the sentence. "I wasn't allowed to see her for days when it had happened. They said she'd had an accident, that the King had been too late to catch her. When I was allowed to see her again, she was different. The last part of goodness and innocence had truly left her."

"Archie says Regina is convinced that it hadn't been an accident. She says the King drove her towards the stairs intentionally, so eventually she would have to fall down, since there was no other place she could go."

"You should have never forced her to marry that man." Henry said bitterly.

"I told her that. I confronted her with all this, this afternoon."

"What did she do?" Henry asked worried.

"She got mad, yelled at me and stormed out the house."

Henry nodded.

Just then Regina entered the house, as soon as she entered the living room and saw her father's and mother's sad and worried eyes looking up to her, her face hardened.

"Well." She said coldly. "I see you couldn't wait to tell more people about my personal life. You and the cricket would actually form a great team together, mother. Here's an idea, why don't you just call Miss Swan, ask her if you can use her megaphone so you can tell everyone in Storybrooke at once. It would spare you a lot of time and effort."

As she didn't get a response from neither of them she smirked. "Well, I was only here because I realised I had forgotten something, so I'll just go get that now and leave you two so you can gossip just a little more." She turned around and left the living room, head held high.

"I don't like what's happening to her."Henry said as she had left the room. "When she's like this, she's – "

"The evil queen again. I know." Cora said, she wasn't sure how she felt about it, part of her was proud of how regal and strong Regina acted, the rest of her was worried though and feared for Regina, she had to figure out this little identity crisis she was having quickly, before others would notice her odd behaviour.

*OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT* *OUAT*

"Gina!" Regina turned around, she had been opening the door to her house as she saw Collin walking up the path to her house.

"Collin." She said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you." Collin said as he reached her.

"Why? I don't really think we have each other something to say." Regina stated. "Besides, I thought your father and you left for good after...what happened."

Collin nodded. "Yes. He doesn't know I'm here. I'm planning on going again soon, after I've talked to you, that is. Can I?"

"Well, what is it you want to talk to me about then?"

"Uhm. I don't know if this is the best place to discuss it. Can we go inside maybe?" Collin asked nervously.

Regina sighed annoyed, how she ever thought she loved him she didn't know. Now she remembered her previous life she saw he was just as much a cowered as Rumpel was. "I probably shouldn't be doing this. But okay. Come in then." She said as she opened the door. "It's still quite a mess, but we can sit on the couch in the living room." She gestured towards the cream coloured couch that could be seen from the hallway.

"Nice place, Gina." Collin said as he did as he was told and went to sit on the couch. Regina sat down at the other end, as far away from him as possible.

"Now, what is it." She said annoyed.

"I - . I heard about you being pregnant." Collin started.

"Yes. I'd say you have since you were there too that day." Regina stated boldly.

"That's quite something." Collin said. "How are you feeling, and how long are you pregnant?"

"I'm about 9 weeks pregnant, and I'm feeling good, thank you. Was that what you wanted to ask? Because I doubt it is, so please get to the point."

Collin sighed again. "Ok. Yes, well. What I wanted to ask is..who's the father?"

Regina raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Well. Is it that Daniel or -?"

"Yes of _course_ it is Daniel!" Regina raised her voice. "What the hell Collin?"

"How do you know?" Collin now said back more firmly.

"How do I know? How do I _know_? I don't have to know, I just do. It's his, it can't be anyone else's." Regina now said angrily.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes!" Regina now yelled.

"I want you to get a paternity test."

Regina gasped. "_What?_"

"I want you to get a paternity test." Collin repeated. "It hasn't been that long ago since we've slept together. It could be mine too."

Regina laughed in disbelieve. "No it could _not_. I haven't slept with you in about three months, and I'm not three months pregnant."

"Maybe the doctor is wrong. He's a fairytale character too, he could very well be wrong. You're thin because of all the dancing, it's very well possible that it will take longer till you will actually start to show. So that you don't look three months pregnant doesn't mean you cannot be." Collin now said.

Regina stood op from the couch and set a few steps in the room. "O my god. This cannot be happening." She turned around.

"Collin, I want you to look at me now and listen very carefully to what I'm going to say, and then you're going to leave and get out of this town as fast as you can. Because if you won't you'll only humiliate yourself even more. First of all, Dr. Whale confirmed I'm about 9 weeks pregnant and Dr Whale is, despite what you think, a very good and reliable doctor. Besides, if you need any more proof, I didn't get pregnant from you because I was on birth-control. I was too when with Daniel, however I had thrown up because of a food poisoning. That messed everything up and _that's_ how I got pregnant. Okay? I cannot believe you thought you could be the father. It's factually impossible!" Regina felt how the tension in her body was building up. "Now get the _hell _out of here!"

Collin stood up from the couch. "This is _not_ over. I will not let _anyone_ talk to me like that."

Regina laughed. "O I'm so scared. What are you going to do? Run to your daddy again and ask him if he can help you?"

She crossed a line there, she knew it as soon as she had said it and saw Collin's eyes darken. Suddenly he walked towards her and pressed her against the wall.

She gasped. "Let me go."

"O now you're not so brave anymore, are you. You're no evil queen. You're just a ignorant stupid girl who doesn't know when to shut her mouth." Collin hissed as he tightened his hold on her arms.

"You're hurting me Collin, let go!" Collin, however, was not planning on doing such a thing anytime soon.

Regina closed her eyes, she was trying to control the rage that was building up inside her, but couldn't hold it anymore. In a sudden outburst she let her hold on her magic go and slammed Collin against the other wall with one flick of her wrist. His eyes went wide at the sudden change.

"You have _no_ idea who you're dealing with, little boy." She said, her voice had lost any hint of the kind girl he knew she once was. This was what people had meant when they talked about the Evil Queen, this was her. This would probably be his end, he thought as he saw her coming towards him, eyes dark with anger with hints of purple magic in them.

Suddenly a confused voice sounded from the door opening. "Regina?"

Slowly Regina turned her head to the sound and she saw Daniel. Her eyes softened immediately. "Daniel, " she whispered. "Daniel, you have to help me, please. I can't get a hold on myself. He attacked me, and..I let the magic go and I can't help it." Her hand was still holding Collin against the wall by magic.

Daniel nodded, but as soon as he broke eye contact with his fiancé, her focus went back to Collin and her eyes were once again purple coloured.

She closed her hand and Collin started to gasp for air. Quickly Daniel walked up to Regina and pulled her into a tight embrace. She struggled for a moment, but gave in soon enough, lowering her hand and with that Collin got released from the magic that had been holding him.

"Go." Was all Daniel said as he watched Collin with angry eyes.

As soon as they heard the front door close behind Collin, Regina broke down. "I'm sorry, Daniel!" She sobbed. 'I don't know what came into me. I was just so afraid, he held me against the wall, and he hurt me and he was so angry." She almost choked in her sobs now.

Daniel gently rubbed her back. "Ssh, it's okay, I'm here now. He's gone, he won't hurt you anymore Regina." Was all he said as he just let her cry.

"I'm a monster." Regina sobbed. "Now I'm so conflicted and every time I get upset I feel how magic gets a hold on me, and at some point I just can't suppress it anymore. I let it out and look what happened. I almost killed him!"

"Regina listen to me." Daniel said, and repeated it more firmly as she first didn't react. "You're not a monster." He took her chin in his hands to tilt her head so she would have to look him in the eyes. "You're just confused. Everyone would be if they were in your situation. The magic..all magic comes with a price, we know that better than anyone. You'll figure out how to deal with it, I'm sure of that. Until then, you just keep on going to Archie. He helps you deal with it, right?"

Regina nodded.

"Well, there. Then there's nothing to worry about."

"My mother wants me to give up the baby." Regina blurted out. "You don't want me to do so too right?" Daniel's heart broke as he looked into those beautiful brown eyes that were now filled with fear and pain.

"Of course not. We're in this together. I – I love you, and I love this baby that's growing inside you already." He gently kissed her.

She smiled as she broke the kiss. "I love you to. And now I'm going to be the one that gets the other some food, for once." She said as she stood up. "Cause I imagine you be hungry after your trip from Boston. Was everything okay?"

Daniel smiled. "Yes, yes it was great." He said as he followed her into the kitchen. "I'll just have to post a few things this afternoon, and then I'll be able to spend the rest of the week with you."

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Regina was watching TV as she heard knocking on her door. It would probably Daniel, he had been gone to post whatever he needed to post for his practice and probably had forgotten his key. As she opened the door, however, she was greeted by a small group of townspeople, Emma, Ruby, Snow, David and a few of the dwarfs and also Collin among them.

"How can I help you?" She asked.

"O cut the crap, missy." Leroy said as he set a step in her direction. "We know all of this is one big act you're putting up."

"Excuse me?" Regina asked confused as she set a step back feeling threatened by Leroy.

"We found out Archie is dead, Regina." David said, eyes fixed on Regina.

"Wh- What?" Regina gasped as she felt tears forming.

"You don't have to play dumb, we know _you_ did it, Regina!" Leroy again.

"Huh? Wh- No, I didn't do that. How could I do such a horrible thing?" Regina asked shocked.

"That's what we would like to know, Regina." Emma said. "Cut the crap. Ruby saw you go to Archie's shop in the afternoon, and I used magic and _saw_ you do it. It´s over Regina."

"No, no, no." Was all Regina whispered and then she realized Collin was standing there too. "I didn't do it, and I can prove it. I was with Collin all afternoon, right Collin?"

Everyone looked at Collin now, waiting for him to confirm or deny what Regina had said. Regina's face fell as she saw Collin shrug. "I don't know what you're talking about Gina. I was at my grandfather's all afternoon."

"You're lying.." Was all she managed to say.

"Regina. You're under arrest." Emma said as she set a step forward to Regina holding handcuffs in her hand.

Regina stepped back as she shook her head. "But I didn't _do_ anything! Why won't you believe me?" Suddenly she saw Daniel standing in the crowd. "Daniel!" She said. "Daniel, you know that I didn't do it. Tell them. Tell them I was with Collin when I came home, and that I was home with you after that."

Daniel shook his head. "I'm sorry Regina. I only saw you with Collin when he left, you could have easily killed Archie before. And when I saw you with Collin, well, you were the Evil Queen then, holding him up against the wall. You told me yourself that when you get upset you can't control the darkness and magic inside of you. Ruby said she saw you fighting with Archie this morning, she said you seemed to be really upset. So..if you put two and two together.."

Tears were now falling down Regina's cheeks. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't believe Daniel was abandoning her just like that. She had to get out of here. Her mother would help her, so right before Emma tried to handcuff her, she made herself disappear in a cloud of purple and black smoke.

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As soon as she appeared in Cora's living room, her mother and father stood up from the chairs they had been sitting in.

"Regina. Sweetheart, what happened?" Henry asked as he saw tears falling down her face.

Sobbing Regina told her parents what just had happened. "But I didn't do it." She cried. 'I swear."

"Regina. Please go sit down." Cora said as she guided the girl to the couch and went to sit next to her. "To be honest, we already knew Emma and the rest were going to get you."

"You did?" Regina asked confused. "Then why didn't you stop them?"

"Because we thought this would be best for you." Cora said. "Now don't get upset." She quickly added as she saw her daughter's eyes widen.

"We've noticed you've been acting different lately. When you get upset you get, different, you act cold, your eyes change, I can feel how your magic starts to come to the surface. You're – "

"- I'm acting like the evil queen again." Regina sighed. "I know, it's horrible. But I'm trying to get it under control, Archie was helping me with it. But what has that to do with his death?" She asked confused.

"Well Regina. Honey. You know we love you." Henry now said. "So you can tell us everything. Even –"

"Even when that means you'll have to admit that you've killed the cricket because you couldn't control your anger anymore. It's okay. We've agreed with Emma that she'll lock you up for now, until we've found a way to calm you down. We won't let anything happen to you Regina, I promise." Cora finished.

Regina gasped. "You don't believe me." She stated. "Now that's great. My own parents don't believe me. My _own _parents rather believe some people that don't even really _know_ me, than their own daughter. You're all the same!" She yelled now and walked away from the couch. "But you were right in one thing, mother. Love _is_ weakness. Everytime I try, Every time I think I actually love someone, and that that someone loves me back I get hurt. By you, by daddy, by Henry, by Collin, by Daniel, you're _all_ the same! But don't worry, I won't be a burden to you all anymore!" And with that she let herself disappear again in yet another cloud of black and purple smoke.

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The angry mob that had gathered around Regina's house had slowly dissolved again. Daniel too walked away a smirk on his lips. Well that had been rather easy, he thought, as he slowly changed back into his normal self. It really was a shame he couldn't find a proper cure for that limp. That short time he had been able to walk properly really had been a blessing, Rumpelstiltskin thought as he walked back to his shop. But, you couldn't have everything in life, and he was okay with that, for now. Phase one of his plan had been completed successfully. Now he would go to have a little chat with the cricket and the stable boy to find out how the relationship between Regina and Cora was evolving. He needed as much information on the two of them to make his revenge bitter sweet, and he was planning on doing so..

**I'm sorry that it took me so long to update. School has been crazy, so here is a fairly long chapter for you all ****. I just saw the 5 sneak peeks for 2.12 and I'm freaking out like crazy xD! I hope you all like what I did here by the way. Please let me know **** R&R!**

**x**

**Metope**


	20. Chapter 19

**CD**

"I _hate _you! I hate you so _so _much! _All_ of you!"

"Henry! You can't talk like that, not to your mother, not to anyone!" David angrily said.

They were all sitting in the diner, it was the day after they'd found out Archie was killed by Regina.

"Yes I can. I can, because you're all cowards! I can't believe you didn't believe her!" Henry yelled at David.

"But Henry." Snow started softly. "Emma saw it, we all did. We saw through the dream catcher how..she did it."

"Oh and we all know, that in particular here in Storybrooke, you have to believe what you _see_. Because with magic being here, sight is the most reliable source around here. How could I be so stupid to forget." Henry said sarcastically, ten years with Regina clearly schooled him in sarcasm.

Emma sighed. "Look Henry. I get that you're upset. But, I saw it, and if it wasn't her, then how would you explain what I saw? Who else has a motive to kill Archie?"

"I – I don't know, Emma. But what I do know is that Regina didn't do it. I just don't understand how you can believe she did, after all that time. You've seen how different she is."

"Yes, well, I'm not sure what was real about all of that." Leroy now said. "Maybe she even faked that pregnancy just so we would believe she'd changed."

Henry let out a cry of frustration. "You are thinking wrong! You're thinking what the Evil Queen would do. But she isn't the Evil Queen anymore!"

"Henry." It was Cora now who started to talk. "We all understand how upset you are, we really do. And don't think we aren't upset about it. But the fact is, Regina was struggling with herself lately. She could get very angry, and then, something inside of her would change."

"Yes I know." Henry interrupted her. "But she was able to keep a hold on it. She didn't let it out, and it wasn't like it was the Evil Queen that was trying to come out. It was just the magic she couldn't control that was bothering her. Her angry and cold behavior was nothing more than a defense mechanism, it didn't have anything to do with the Evil Queen. I don't understand how you all can't see that. How even her true _love_ couldn't see that."

"Speaking of true love. Where _is_ Daniel?" Snow asked.

Rumpelstiltskin decided now would be a good time to make his presence known. "He probably left town. The poor lad was heartbroken to find out his true love was such a…_monster_. Because yes, Henry, I too do believe it really was Regina who killed Dr. Hopper." He said from the back of the diner, Belle was standing next to him, of course he hadn't told her anything about what he had done, it had been hard enough to apologize to her after she had seen what he had done to Regina in the past, she wouldn't understand. He grinned as some of the townspeople nodded in agreement. He wasn't really lying, he thought, if you believed 'left town' meant, 'is held hostage in the basement of my shop'.

"And what are you going to do to her now?"Henry asked in a little voice. "Where is she even?"

"We don't know." David said. "Ruby is out now to track her down, so we'll just have to wait for her to come back."

Right on cue Ruby entered the diner, worry showed on her face. "She's left town." Was all she said.

"Where did I hear _that_ before." Granny said sarcastically.

"So what do we do then?" Emma asked.

"I suggest we do nothing." Henry sr. now spoke. He had been quiet the entire time, just as his grandson he had been quite shocked by the determination with what the townspeople believed Regina was still the Evil Queen. Of course, he wasn't a hundred percent sure too whether she really was innocent, he had lived closest to the Evil Queen for a long time after all, but that all didn't mean he wanted to see his daughter behind bars. It was better if she would stay away from Storybrooke a while, they could always visit her..if they wanted too.

Everyone looked at him confused. "What do you mean, Mr. Mills?" Ashley asked.

"Well, " Henry started, "she's out of town now. So we won't have to be afraid of the Evil Queen anymore that way, will we?"

"I agree with Mr. Mills." Gold said to everyone's surprise. Regina would eventually return, Gold thought, he knew she would, but for now it would be easier for him to do his work, without her being around. "She's out of our way now. We won't have to worry she'll hurt anyone out there, because there's no magic outside of Storybrooke. I say we stop letting our lives be ruled by this woman and just continue our lives without her."

Again the larger part of the people present nodded in agreement. Gold smirked as he saw Cora purse her lips in discontent.

"Henry, where are you going?" Emma called as Henry suddenly ran out the diner. Snow put her hand on Emma's arm. "Just let him for now. He's upset, I think it's best to let him think for a while."

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Regina leaned back against the couch in her new small apartment. She let her fingers trail absentmindedly over her belly, she was showing now. It had been almost three months since she'd left Storybrooke, she had left everything behind, she had just stepped into her car and had driven off after even her parents didn't believe her. She had driven to New York in two days and once there stayed in a hotel, so she could start making a plan what to do next. She didn't want to be found, so she didn't want to go back to her old apartment in New York, at the same time, she didn't want to leave New York, if she wanted to keep her career alive she had to stay here.

So the first thing she had done, after imprinting into her mind she was Gina again, was going to the theatre to discuss what to do. Of course her boss had gotten extremely mad. She had gone on and on about how irresponsible Regina had been, that she now was jeopardizing the entire show. At a certain point Regina didn't take the yelling of her boss anymore and had yelled back that all of this hadn't happened if her ensemble girl Monica hadn't poisoned her on purpose with the cookies she had given Regina. Her boss had immediately send someone to get Monica, as soon as she confronted the girl with what Regina had said her boss knew the truth. Monica was a great singer, but not so much of an actress, so the lie she tried to put up wasn't anywhere near believable. Her boss had immediately apologized to Regina and they had been able to come to a fair understanding. Regina was allowed to stay on until she wouldn't fit into the costumes anymore. Regina agreed to this, of course she couldn't play the part anymore as soon as she was starting to show. So when she was about three months pregnant she left the show, the official story was she left because she wanted to attend a performing arts academy to improve her work.

In fact the plan was that she was going to release a CD, she had to earn a living after all. In the weeks that followed after her resignation she found herself a reliable agent who was willing to help her even though she was pregnant. Her agent, Elaine, had said Regina's name was already well known enough to find a record label in no time, and she had been right. They were done recording the album now, it was a matter of choosing the right time to release it now, Elaine had said. Elaine had started to talk with Regina about PR as soon as she had noticed Regina was starting to show and they wouldn't be able to hide it anymore.

"_We're going to use this pregnancy of yours to promote you." Elaine said as she sat down on one of the kitchen chairs in Regina's apartment._

_Regina raised her eyebrows. "O? Why? How?"_

"_Well. You'll agree with me that we can't go on a tour anytime soon in your condition." Regina nodded. "So we'll have to find another way to attract attention to you. And by that I mean positive attention. The magazines will find out about your pregnancy soon enough, you suddenly left the show you were in and you're starting to show. Therefore, they'll be all too eager to write some crappy scandalous story filled with lies about the twenty year old that got it all but got knocked up and saw it all slip through her fingers. Or something."_

"_I didn't get knocked up." Regina said firm. "Not really, anyways." She added._

"_Yes, well dear, believe what you want to. But we both know that you're living here alone, without family or a boyfriend to help you out. So if I were a gossip columnist I would know what to write." Elaine said unimpressed. "But that's not the point. The point is that we're a step ahead of them. We're going to be the one telling the story first. We're going to present you as a strong determined you woman who's following her dream, despite all the bad luck trying to hold her back." Elaine said._

_Regina nodded slowly, which was a reason for Elaine to continue. "That way, your pregnancy will turn into something positive. People will admire you for how hard you work, how strong you are, how you manage to do it all by yourself, without family to help you. We'll arrange interviews, appearances on talk shows, the whole shebang!"_

"_I am not going to talk about my family." Regina had firmly stated. "I'm willing to talk about almost everything, but I'm not going to talk about how or where I grew up, why I have no contact with my family anymore, none of that. Understand?"_

_Elaine nodded slightly taken aback by the sudden change in attitude._

And so it happened that Regina was now sitting on her couch at 23:00 too nervous to go to sleep despite the fact that she should take her rest. They had released her CD today, and tomorrow she would give an interview to a music TV channel. She decided she would release the CD under the name Regina. It wouldn't really matter, since back at Storybrooke they now knew Gina Moulin just as well as they knew Regina. This way she could use her own name, which felt better than Gina, without it being weird. The first reviews of her CD would be in tomorrow, together with the interview of the magazine. Everyone would be able to read it, even the people in Storybrooke. At first she had been worried about that, afraid they would come after her after all. But then she thought that they probably wouldn't. They still didn't know where she lived, and she had made sure that her agent knew who she shouldn't allow to talk to her, besides, they hadn't come looking for her in these past three months, so what would make them do so now? It was best if she just never thought about them anymore, so that maybe, if she was lucky, she would forget about them, about all of them, Cora, her father, Henry, Emma, Snow and even..Daniel. She felt a tear strolling down her face. Quickly she whipped it away, mad at herself that she still had to cry the moment she thought about Daniel. But then again, she thought he had been her true love, that he would always be there for her. Clearly she had been wrong, she had been wrong about all of that.

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"Mom! Granny!" The people in the diner all looked up from what they were doing as Henry ran into the diner directly towards Emma who was talking to Granny and Cora at the bar.

"Henry, calm down. What is it?" Emma asked.

"You – Granny – You have to put the TV on. Mo – Re- Regina is on. On the music channel. There's - she's being interviewed, she has released a CD or something." Henry blurted out.

"Why would we want to see that. I thought we wanted to have nothing to do with the woman anymore?" Granny asked.

Emma shook her head. "I know, but, I'm actually kind of curious." She admitted.

"Please, widow Lucas."Cora added. "I – I miss my daughter. I would like to see her."

Granny sighed heavily but obeyed and put on the TV, turning the sound up until they could hear what was being said, making it impossible for the other customers to continue their conversations so they were forced to watch too.

They saw Regina sitting in a chair, she wore a black dress with a small ribbon around her waist just above her belly. Cora gasped as she saw her beautiful daughter sitting there, talking animatedly to the interviewer, one hand protectively on her belly. After they'd talked a little about her CD the subject changed to her pregnancy.

_*"By the way, congratulations on your pregnancy. Is everything going alright?" The interview said._

_"Thank you". Regina replied with a big smile. "Yes, everything is alright. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm five months pregnant now and I can sometimes feel the baby move now. So that's really exciting."_

_* "I can imagine. But isn't it hard for you? Releasing a CD, promoting an album while being pregnant?"_

_Regina shook her head. "Well, it sure is a challenge. But, being pregnant, and having a baby for the first time always is challenging, I think. And, other women have to work too while they are pregnant. My job is to sing, and promoting a CD comes with that. So I don't really see why it's different. I want to become a successful singer, and if, in order to achieve that, this is what I have to do. Then I'll do that. That I'll soon be a single mom doesn't change that."_

"Well at least we now know she didn't lie about the pregnancy." Leroy remarked, but he gut shushed immediately by the rest of the diner.

_*"And I assume you will get lots of help?" the interviewer asked. "What about your parents, your family?"_ _Regina's eyes darkened and her lips pursed a little. "I thought I'd said I didn't want to talk about that." She said. "I don't __have__ any family. End of story." _

The interviewer laughed nervously and he quickly continued with his next question. Cora, Emma and Henry, however, weren't listening anymore.

"You see what you've done." Was all Henry whispered, tears in his eyes. "She has abandoned us all."

"Because we abandoned her." Granny now said. "and, forgive me for saying this, but I still think it's been a good idea. As soon as Regina remembered, Archie got killed. She's gone now, and nothing strange or weird has happened ever since."

Before Henry could say something back Ruby entered the kitchen. "You guys aren't going to believe this. Look who's on the gossip page of the newspaper." Ruby said as she walked straight to the bar and put the newspaper open at the page she was talking about.

"_WHO IS REGINA'S BABY DADDY?_" was written in big capital letters on the page with a picture of a clearly pregnant Regina walking down the streets of New York talking to a few people they didn't know.

"Regina.." Cora said, as she touched the picture of her daughter, overwhelmed by how much she missed her daughter.

"So she is still in New York then." Henry stated. "That's good, because now with this CD she'll have a fan mail address and all, so it will be much easier to track her down than it was before."

"It sounds like you've tried already to track her down before, kid." Emma said.

Henry nodded. "Yes, Cora and I and Mr. Mills tried, but I couldn't find anything. Tracking someone down who lives in Boston turns out to be easier than tracking someone down who lives in New York." He winked at her.

But before Emma could say anything back the door of the diner opened once again and all the people present gasped as they saw Archie and Daniel stumble inside. Both men were looking terrible, they had bags under their eyes and they looked extremely thin and dehydrated. Daniel went to sit on the nearest chair within his reach and Archie fell to his knees too exhausted to keep himself up any longer.

The whole diner stared at the two men for a while after which Emma was the first to recover. Quickly she ran over to Archie to see if he was alright as Cora walked to Daniel to take care of him.

"Henry! Call the hospital, they have to help them _now_." Emma said as she tried to awake a now unconscious Archie.

**Dum dum dumm cliff hanger because I honestly didn't really know how to continue this. So I thought it would be easier if I would start a new chapter from someone else's POV to explain what has happened to Archie and Daniel while they were away, where Gold is, and what will happen next.**

**I didn't reread this chapter because I'm really tired and I want to go to sleep, I will do it tomorrow ****.**

**Please R&R ****!**

**x**

**Metope**


	21. Chapter 20

**Scared.**

Emma was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital together with Henry, Snow and Cora. Dr. Whale was currently taking care of both Daniel and Archie. He had stated that they were both indeed dehydrated and needed to rest but their condition didn't seem to be too serious.

"So…Mr. Gold hm?" Henry said. On their way to the hospital they had understood from Daniel it had been Rumpelstiltskin who had held them hostage for all those months.

"That imp's deed are going to cost him dearly." Cora snarled.

"With all due respect, Cora." Emma said. "But except for when were thinking of a fair and not too violent way to deal with Mr. Gold, I'd rather have you wouldn't say such things or even think of acting upon those thoughts."

Snow nodded in agreement. "Yes. Emma is right. What Gold has done is unforgivable, and he sure as hell needs to be stopped. But you getting over there triggering a magical war isn't the best solution."

"Besides, we don't even know where he is. Ruby said she's searched for him everywhere but that he's nowhere to be found and Belle seems to be gone too." Henry added.

Just at that moment Belle entered the hospital, confusion and panic written on her face, as soon as she saw Emma she ran to her.

"Emma. Emma. We're in trouble. Rumpelstiltskin, he's gone mad!" she said as she went to sit down next to Emma.

"Yes, so we've heard." Emma remarked sarcastically.

"You have to do something." Belle said. "I don't know where he is, or what he's planning but it can't be good. He has been acting weird for months. I didn't think too much of it at first, I thought it would just be because his son doesn't want anything to do with him again. And, well I understand that, I had a hard time trusting Rumpel again too after that day with Regina, but he doesn't understand. Then, a few weeks ago, we got into a sort of a fight and he let slip how he blamed..you " she pointed her head to Cora, "and Regina for what had happened to him and his son and grandson. But he would take care of it. When I asked him what he meant by that he didn't answer me. And then there was this morning. Rumpel was out doing I don't know what, and I needed a ladder, but – but I couldn't find one," Belle rambled on, "then I remembered I had seen one once in the basement, so I went down there, and that's when I heard noises coming from a closet that was standing there. I opened it and behind it was a small room instead of the inside of the closet, with Daniel and Archie in it tied up. So I released them and told them to leave. Just as they had left and I left the basement too I saw that Rumpel was home again, he saw me coming from the basement and – and I thought he was coming for me, but instead he shook his head and then disappeared by magic." Tears were now falling down Belle's face and Emma softly rubbed her back to comfort the girl a little.

"So, let me get this straight. What you're basically telling us, is that Gold holds Cora and my mom responsible for his son and Collin turning against him, and therefore he has kidnapped Archie and Daniel?" Henry asked. "How does that even make sense." He then asked as Belle nodded through her tears.

"And what makes you think we'd believe what the…lover….of the Dark One is telling us." Cora said.

"Nothing makes me think that. You just have to trust me." Belle said. "And you can check with Archie and Daniel if I'm speaking the truth. As for why he has kidnapped both of them. I'm not sure of his exact motives, but to me Daniel and Archie seem the two people in this town that know the most about Regina, together with her parents, Snow and maybe you Henry, but of course he couldn't kidnap you as easily as he could with those two."

"But Daniel was there when we went to confront Regina." Emma said. "How do you explain that?"

"Rumpelstiltskin can shape shift." Cora said.

Snow nodded. "That must be it, because Rumpelstiltskin wasn't around when we went to Regina's."

"Excuse me." They all looked up as they saw Dr. Whale walking towards them. "Daniel has woken up. One of you can go to see him, but only one."

"You should go Emma." Snow said.

"What? Why me?" Emma asked confused. "I don't even really know the guy.

"Well, that's what makes you the perfect candidate, dear." Cora said dryly. "I don't think I have to explain to you why I wouldn't be a possibility, and Snow here..."

"…it's awkward. Plus, you're the sheriff." Snow added.

"Fine, I'll go then." Emma said as she stood up from her chair and followed Whale.

* * *

"Hi." She said as she entered the room and went to sit on a chair near Daniel's bed.

He smiled at her. "Hi." He said.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" Emma asked.

"Well, we were kidnapped, obviously." Daniel started.

"By Gold."

He nodded. "Yes. He kept us in his basement. First he left us there for about a month without saying anything to us, just giving us some food so now and then. When we asked him why we were here he'd say we had to be patient. We tried to escape but he had enchanted the door so it could only be opened from the outside. Then one day he came down and told us it was time for us to talk. He started with Archie, forcing him to tell what he and Regina had talked about during their sessions. Of course Archie refused to talk, causing him to be beaten up by Gold. I was next…" Daniel's voice trailed off.

"Did he say why he wanted all this information? And did you give it to him eventually?" Emma asked.

Daniel shook his head. "We didn't say anything to him at first. The physical abuse, we could handle it fairly well. But Rumpelstiltskin changed his strategy, he started to torture us mentally. Showing us a memory of how you, how you _all_ accused Regina of having murdered Archie. How Rumpelstiltskin broke her heart by taking my form and hurting Regina like that." A single tear fell down Daniels face. "He showed how heartbroken all of you were thinking Archie had died. After that it became harder to stay silent as he still tortured us physically because it became harder to focus mentally. Archie broke eventually. He told about Regina and Cora's relationship. How Regina doesn't want to admit it but is in fact craving for her mother's love and approval, even after everything they've been through. How she's been struggling with keeping her magic in control, that she feels that it's different than before, that it seems stronger. He seemed to be really satisfied by this information, because he didn't even bother to ask me anything, he said he would come back for me, that I wasn't nearly as useless, that I was just needed here mostly to help Regina break. Shortly after that Belle found us and we got released."

Emma shook her head confused. "I don't understand why Gold needed this information. What does he want with this knowledge. Belle said he holds Regina and Cora responsible for what happened between him and his son, but how does this help him?"

"I – I think he needed to know how their relationship was. He needed to find her weakness, how he calls it. Of course, I'm her weakness in a way. But he knows that if he'd do something to me Regina would most probably turn to Cora, just as she had turned to Rumpelstiltskin when Cora killed me. Therefore he had to find another weakness.."

"Which he has now found in Cora." Emma finished his sentence.

Daniel nodded. "Where is Regina now?" He then asked.

"We don't really know." Emma said. "This morning..we found out she's still living in New York somewhere. It seems she's doing fairly well actually. She gave an interview this morning about a new CD she's released and they – she talked about her pregnancy, that it all went well and stuff."

"Has she tried to contact any of you? Henry or something?"

Emma shook her head. "No..in the interview she also said that she doesn't have family. She's abandoned us all, even Henry although he never accused her of something."

Daniel closed his eyes. "We have to find her. Let her know we know she didn't do it. That it wasn't me back then. She may seem strong but she can't do all of this on her own."

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"I'm sorry I did so bad." Regina said to Elaine as soon as the interview was over.

Elaine shook her head. "It's okay, Gina. He shouldn't have asked, you reacted fairly well."

Regina nodded but she wasn't convinced, twenty-eight years of being the mayor of Storybrooke dealing with press and public speaking all the time and she couldn't handle this? It probably was because of the same reason she didn't know how to be a mother to Henry, she couldn't act upon those memories. That, and she had been surprised by the sadness she had felt as soon as the words family and parents had fallen.

"What's this?" Regina asked as her eyes fell on the gossip page of a newspaper lying on Elaine's desk.

"That's something I wanted to discuss with you. I told you how we were going to use your pregnancy to our advantage. And we did and this interview proved we made a good decision. However, you can never totally stop the gossip journalists. You mustn't take this serious, ever. It's just gossip, it are all lies and columnists trying to create drama and sell a sensational story.

Regina nodded as she read the head of the newspaper. _[Is this the father of Regina's baby?]_ With a picture of her talking to one of Elaine's colleagues.

"Pff." She said. "let them guess. I won't tell them anything."

"Well, we probably do need to come up with a story about the father." Elaine carefully said.

Regina raised her eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Well, yes. You can't possibly expect people to be satisfied with you being pregnant not knowing how? You're a celebrity now, or actually, you almost are, that means people will want to know things about you. The best thing you can do is tell your own story before someone else makes one up."

Regina sighed. "Do I have to come up with something now?"

Elaine shook her head. "No. You're done for today. Just go home, go rest and think about what you want the story to be."

Regina smiled thankfully. "Good." she said. "Because I don't really know what to tell them yet. Little did she know that she would have a story to tell soon enough.

* * *

The sound of someone knocking on her door woke Regina up from the light sleep she had been in. A week filled with interviews and other promotional stuff had exhausted her more than she'd expected. Slowly she stoop up from the couch. Her eyes went wide as she opened the door.

All Henry could say was "Hi." Before she slammed the door back in his and Daniel's face.

"Mom! Open up!"

"Go away! Both of you. I don't know how you've found me, but I want you to go. I don't need to hear any more accusations. You made pretty clear how you thought about me Daniel." She said through the closed door.

"Regina.." Daniel said. "Please open up so we can explain. What I said to you that day, that wasn't me. It was one big lie, you've been framed by Mr. Gold."

"I don't believe you. You're just trying to get me open the door so you can take me back to Storybrooke to do whatever you have planned to do with me."

"Mom, it's true what Daniel says." Henry now said, still talking to the closed door. "Mr. Gold had himself turned into Daniel, it wasn't him that day. He had kidnapped both Daniel and Archie, who isn't dead by the way. Besides it's not fair that you don't let me in, I never accused you of anything, I always believed you were innocent."

Regina now slowly opened the door, tears in her eyes. "Archie isn't dead?" Was all she asked.

Henry shook his head. "Nope."

"Then why isn't he hear with you two? How can you prove you're not lying?" The walls she had allowed to go down for just a second were back in place again, dark eyes staring at the two men in front of her.

"He couldn't come." Daniel now said. "He wasn't released from the hospital yet."

Regina frowned, she didn't know what to do, but eventually her curiosity won and she opened the door for them to come in. "Come in, you can explain all of this inside." Was all she said without looking at them.

As soon as they all sat down Henry told what had happened after they had found out she had left again. Regina couldn't help but squeeze his shoulder softly as he told how mad and hurt he was that Emma and the rest hadn't believed her or him. Then Daniel told what had happened to him and Archie, and by the time they were both finished Regina was an emotional mess.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed. "Stupid hormones." Daniel, who was sitting opposite her put his hand on her knee to comfort her, not sure if she had forgiven him enough already for him to touch her.

Henry noticing the awkwardness of the whole situations stood up. "I got to go to the bathroom."

"First door on your right." Regina said, still sobbing.

"Regina, I – I'm sorry." Daniel said as he had made sure Henry was gone. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of this."

Regina shook her head. "It's – it's not your fault, Daniel. I should be sorry, that I believed so easily you would do such a thing. I was just so confused and hurt at that moment, I didn't think there was anything else I could do but to leave."

Daniel stood up and now went to sit next to Regina on the couch as he put his arms around her, she immediately leaned in to him as tears started to fall faster. "I've missed you so, _so_ much." She sobbed. "It's like we can never be together for long."

Daniel pulled her tighter into the hug. "Don't say that. I'm here now, and I'm not planning on going anywhere soon. I'm here to take care of you, and to take care of our baby. I love you."He said as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

Henry waited for while in the bathroom until he thought he had given them enough time together. When he left the room he saw Regina sleeping in Daniel's arms. Henry smiled as he met Daniels eyes.

"So, everything is alright again?" He whispered.

Daniel shook his head. "Everything is far from alright, but between me and Regina, things are okay again." He said softly.

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"Hi, I'm back." Henry said as he entered the diner.

"Henry, how come you're alone? Where is Daniel? We didn't expect you to be back so soon." Ruby said.

Henry smiled though the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Slow down with all the questions Ruby. I'll explain everything to you, but first I want to find my mom and Cora and Mr. Mills, 'cause I'm not really feeling like telling this story more than once."

Ruby nodded. "Okay, I understand. I think Emma is at Cora's right now together with Snow and David. They were discussing what to do about our Rumpelstiltskin problem, since he's still missing. I'll go with you."

"Henry." Cora said surprised as she opened the door and let both him and Ruby in.

Emma walked into the hallway. "Henry, you're back already? What happened didn't you find Regina? Where is Daniel?"

Henry just walked past her and fell down on the couch next to both his grandfathers and Snow. "Go sit, and I'll tell you everything." He said, and as Cora, Ruby and Emma did as he told them he started to tell them how they had found Regina, how she first didn't want to let them in but did eventually.

"However," he said. "She doesn't want to come back."

"Well, that seems like a good idea to me, to be honest." Cora said. "I never thought it to be smart to ask her to come back in the first place, not while we don't know where that twisted little imp is hiding. It's better if we'd just go to her to visit."

Henry shook his head. "No, what I mean is. She doesn't want to come back, because she doesn't want to see any of you. She forgave Daniel because it wasn't him, and I never thought she had killed Archie so I wasn't to blame in the first place. But all of _you_, you thought she had done it immediately after you had found out he was missing. You accused her of being a murderer and didn't believe her when she told you she hadn't done it. She feels utterly betrayed by all of you, and it hurts her too much to see you all ever again. That's what she said. I'm free to visit her whenever I like, but if I even think of bringing any of you with me, that would be over, she said. She was very clear about that. That's why Daniel didn't come back with me. He decided to stay with Regina, to take care of her and the baby. First he wanted to take me home, but I'm fifteen now, I traveled to Boston without problems at 10, I assured him I could manage to get back from New York too. So here I am."

"This is all your fault!" Cora said angrily as she looked menacingly at Emma who was sitting next to Snow and David. "If you wouldn't have believed everything that imp said, and wouldn't have trusted what you'd seen, this wouldn't have happened."

"Cora. That isn't fair to say." Henry sr. started but he got interrupted – as usual – by Snow, defending her daughter. "Excuse me Cora. But it isn't like _you_ believed her when she said she was innocent either. You thought your daughter was a murderer just as much as we thought her to be."

"No. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. But she was already too upset to let us finish what we wanted to say. We told her that if she _had_ done it she could tell us, that we would make sure Emma would only lock her up, wouldn't do anything else to her. By that time she was already so upset however that we couldn't get to the part where we would tell her we didn't _think_ she had done it." Cora said.

"Yes, well, keep telling yourself that's what you were planning on doing if it makes you feel any better." Emma said unimpressed. "But the fact is, that Regina doesn't want to come back."

"I don't really see how we can do something about that. _If_ we even should do something about it." David now said.

Snow nodded in agreement. "If she doesn't want to come back, then who are we to challenge that decision."

"Besides, " Henry now said, "as much as I dislike it, I can still visit her, and for her job and everything she needs to be in New York anyways, so it wouldn't be really that different from if she did want to see you."

"Except for the fact that my daughter is only twenty years old, is pregnant for the first time while she is promoting a new CD and therefore isn't getting enough rest, I can assure you that, and her mother isn't there for her to guide her." Cora now said raising her voice.

Everyone looked surprised at this sudden outburst of the woman that was normally so put together. "I'm not sure she would even _want_ your guiding, Cora. Even if she _did_ forgive you." Ruby said, not really realizing how rude she sounded.

But the damage had been done and Cora left the room. Henry sr. sighed. "Despite what you all might think. Cora does love Regina very much. A little too much, maybe. All she wants for her is that she'll get and have the best there is in life. The life she had in mind for Regina back in our land may not have been the best for her, and may have caused more damage than it did good – " Snow snorted at this. "But she has changed. The many times Regina has rejected Cora have slowly made her realize this isn't the way she should act, and she's acting differently now. She uses less magic and she's reverting more to the woman she was that I met all those years ago. So you have to understand how upset she is about all of this. The old Cora would have ignored Regina's whishes and would have gone to visit her anyways, maybe even force her to come back with her. This Cora however respects Regina's whishes, and that shows how much she has changed. There's no need to be so rude to her."

Emma smiled at this. In the short time she had come to known Mr. Mills she had found out two things. One: That he didn't like to be the subject of attention, that he'd rather watch how thinks unfolded than to act upon them and do something about them, which was very unfortunate for Regina. And two: that if he really got triggered he could suddenly say or do something you didn't expect at all, but felt right nevertheless. Like he had done now.

* * *

However, that Regina didn't want to come to Storybrooke in person didn't mean she wasn't in Storybrooke. In the weeks that followed magazines, newspapers and other media all wrote about this new girl that was most certainly a rising star in showbiz land. The articles varied from given interviews to photo's taken by paparazzi of her and Daniel walking hand in hand down the streets of New York or attending parties and other social events. All of this made it even harder for Cora and Henry sr. to try to continue their lives without their daughter once again. At the same time they had still be searching for Rumpelstiltskin without any positive results. No one knew the Dark One was in fact hiding in Regina's family grave deep down, where no one would find him, patiently waiting for his protégé to come back to him.

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_Four months later_

Regina was lying in bed, wide awake, eyes staring at the ceiling. It was 4:00 PM she had just woken up. She had been very tired yesterday so Daniel insisted she would take a nap today, the baby could come any day now. And that scared her. It scared her more than anything else had ever scared her. Okay, that wasn't entirely true, in her past back at their l and there had been moments she had felt as scared as she did now, but there hadn't been many. She felt extremely alone in this, of course shad Daniel, but just didn't help with this, he couldn't exactly understand what she was going through. Suddenly the room seemed to be really small and very warm, the covers she was under seemed to suffocate her. She started breathing heavily and quickly got out of the bed and stumbled into the living room.

Daniel looked up from his work as he heard her come in. "What is it Regina?" He asked as he saw the fear in her eyes.

"I – Daniel – We – I want to go home." She stammered.

Daniel smiled. "Honey, I think your still dreaming. We are home, you're standing in our living room right now."

Regina shook her head. "No I mean _home_ home. To Storybrooke, to Henry, to Emma, to my parents."

"But I thought you said that – "

"I know what I said." She snapped. "And now I'm saying I want to go home. Please Daniel. I'm so scared, I want – I need – I – want my _mother_." Tears were in her eyes now.

"And you want to go now? Because if we do we will arrive around 10 at the earliest."

Regina nodded. "I know, it doesn't matter. Just, get me there, drive me over there, please?"

Daniel now nodded, he saw she really meant this and it killed him that she looked so scared, and small and fragile, and he didn't know what to do about it. "Okay." He said, "Go get your things, I'll drive you back home."

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Henry was just going to bed – while he was still living in with Cora for they both seemed to be actually fine with the situation as it was – as he heard the doorbell ring.

"Henry, could you get that?" Cora asked, who was upstairs already. "I expect it to be that annoying sheriff again."

"On my way." Henry said back as he walked to the door, his eyes widened as he opened it and saw Daniel and Regina with a tear stained face standing there.

"Regina." Was all he said, he wanted to hug her, but she avoided his arms and walked past him into the house.

"Where's mother?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"I'm here." Cora, who had come down the stairs as soon as she had heard Henry say Regina's name, said.

Regina turned to see her mother standing at the bottom of the stairs and immediately walked towards her and pressed herself against Cora as the latter surprised but determined wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"Mama, "Regina cried, Cora winced at the title, Regina hadn't called her that since she had been three years old, instead always used the formal 'mother', at Cora's insistence. " Mother," Regina corrected herself, "I need you I - I'm so scared." She sobbed as Cora felt hot tears fall on her shoulder as she slowly caressed her daughters head. Although it hurt her to see her daughter this upset, she couldn't help but softly smile, as her daughter had returned to her, and didn't reject her, Regina telling her she needed her was her own way of telling her she loved her, Cora new, and she couldn't be happier about it.

**Here you go **** Please R&R ^^.  
**

**I'm going to sleep now (while being devastated by the fact that CTV has pushed back OUAT because of some game and me not knowing about it therefore getting all excited for nothing 'cause I'm too tired to stay up till 02:00 AM ..there.) :P**

**I'll read this again to correct spelling/grammar mistakes when I wake up tomorrow (after watching 2.12 **** )**

**x**

**Metope**


	22. Chapter 21

**Purple**

Cora woke up by the sound of loud voices coming from the kitchen. As she tried to listen what was going on downstairs she could hear. _Regina!_ _What's wrong? Henry call an ambulance_ and she knew she had to get down right away. As she entered the kitchen, still in her night gown and a bathrobe she saw Regina lying on the ground in Daniels arms, he was brushing her hair out of her face pressing kisses to her head while her daughter just lay there eyes closed and face in a frown.

"What happened?" Cora asked worried as she kneeled to sit next to her daughter.

"I don't know. One minute she was standing next to me making breakfast and the next I had to catch her to prevent her from falling to the ground." Daniel said. "She did say she felt tired when she woke up this morning. I told her to stay in bed but she said she didn't want to."

Cora touched Regina's forehead with her hand and quickly pulled back. "She's burning up. Henry! Did you call that ambulance already?"

"Yes. They're on their way." He said as he returned to the kitchen.

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"She's catched a nasty virus." Whale said as he walked in the waiting room where Cora, Henry and Daniel were waiting. "She has a very high fever; it's nothing we can't cure.." Whale paused.

"But..?" Daniel asked.

"But, it can be dangerous for the baby. Therefore, I wanted to suggest we get the baby now by performing a C-section."

"Is she awake? Did you tell her?" Cora asked and, "What did she say?" as Whale nodded.

"She – She said that if it would mean the baby would be safe she was okay. She'll be awake during the procedure, so we can check at all times how she is doing." Whale said.

Daniel nodded. "Okay. Then you should do it. If Regina is fine with it, I am too. Can we see her?"

"Yes, you can all wish her good luck before we take her into surgery." Whale said as he showed them the way to the room Regina was in. "However, you mustn't come too close to her. The virus is contagious, meaning she can't hold her baby at first, so I need you three to be healthy to take care of the child until the danger is over."

Regina's eyes were closed as they walked in but she opened them as soon as she heard them coming in. "Hi." She whispered and tried to smile, although she didn't pull it off as well as she wanted to.

"Regina, my dear, how are you feeling." Henry asked as he was the first to walk up to the bed. It killed him to see his daughter this sick.

"Could be better, daddy." She answered in a soft voice.

"Well, don't worry honey. Everything will be just fine. Dr. Whale is going to get your baby and you'll be better in no time." She smiled weakly at him.

"Your father is right, darling." Cora now said. "Guess you won't have to worry about a natural birth after all. So no need to be scared of that anymore." She tried to joke.

"Yes, although I'd rather be scared of that than feel as bad as I do now. And now I'm just scared something will go wrong during surgery." Regina said.

Cora gently touched Regina's leg and softly squeezed it. "Everything will be alright, sweetheart. Don't you worry; stress is bad for the baby."

"Come Cora." Henry then said as he took his wife with him and guided her out of the room. "We'll leave them alone now."

"O Regina, look at you, I had imagined all of this to go entirely different." Daniel said as he smiled lovingly to her.

She laughed. "As did I. But, I'm no less grateful for it all. I'd never thought that I would ever be with you again, and look at us now, we're about to be a family."

Daniel smiled. "It kills me that I can't kiss you now, you know that?"

"Be strong, my man." Regina joked. "You'll be rewarded with the joy of holding your beautiful child in your arms later today. As where I can't."

The door opened and Dr. Whale entered the room. "It's time."

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"Henry! Get your shoes!"

"Hm what? Where are we going?"

"To the hospital!" Emma called back from downstairs.

"Why? Can't it wait? I'm winning in my game at the moment." Henry said from his room.

"Oh, yes of course it can wait. I guess we can go see your new sister, niece, aunt, or whatever she'll be called in this weird family but all being Regina's baby daughter some other time." Emma said in the most nonchalant way she could reach when she was so excited herself now to go see Regina.

She heard some stumbling coming from his room and then saw Henry running down the stairs, his shoes already on. "What did you say? My mom is here? And the baby too?"

Emma nodded with a smile. "Yes, apparently she and Daniel came back yesterday night. This morning Regina fell ill, she caught some nasty virus, it could harm the baby so Dr. Whale decided to get the baby now, so it would be safe."

"But why is she even here? She didn't tell me we she was planning on coming back the last time I spoke to her." Henry said as he and Emma now walked towards her still working yellow bug.

Emma shrugged. "I don't know kid, you'll have to ask her yourself. This is all Mr. Mills told me over the phone."

* * *

Henry ran into the hospital as soon as Emma had parked the car. But before he was able to storm in the room Regina was in he got held back by Cora.

"Wait a second Henry." Cora said. "You can't just barge into her room like that. Regina is sleeping now and she needs her rest."

"Is she alright? How sick is she?" Henry asked with a worried face.

Cora smiled reassuringly to the boy. "She isn't that ill Henry. She just collapsed this morning because she has been working too hard these past months. The virus however, is contagious. So if you want to see the baby you cannot come near Regina, for the baby's health is still very fragile, it will pick up viruses like Regina's easier than we do. You understand?" Henry nodded.

"Can I go look to my sister first then?" He asked.

Cora smiled at how Henry called her granddaughter his sister. Even though Regina wasn't his mother anymore, it still felt like it for the boy, and because of how close the two of them were she couldn't blame the boy for feeling like this was his sister.

"Yes you can, we'll just wait for Emma." Cora said, and as soon as Emma joined the two they followed Cora to the baby room. It wasn't difficult to find out which baby was Regina's, for Daniel was sitting on a chair next to one of the cribs.

As soon as he saw Emma and Henry he waved at them, gesturing they could come in.

"You go first." Emma said to her son. It shouldn't be too crowded in the room and she saw how eager Henry was too see the child. She smiled as she saw how the boy entered the room so carefully it seemed as if he thought he was walking on eggshells.

"Hi." He whispered to Daniel. "That's her." He then stated as he looked in the crib seeing a the tiniest human being he had ever seen, wrapped in pink blankets. She was asleep, a few dark hairs decorated her tiny head.

"Yes, that's her." Daniel said softly with a wide grin he seemed to be unable to get off his face.

"She's so tiny." Henry stated.

Daniel laughed at the comment. "Well, there she is baby for. But don't you think she's beautiful?"

Henry nodded again. "What's her name?" He asked softly still keeping his eyes on the girl.

"We haven't decided yet." Daniel said. We couldn't agree on the right name for her, I guess I'll have to talk to Regina about it as soon as she wakes up.

A nurse entered the room. "Miss Mills woke up, I'm going to bring her daughter to her now." She said.

"I thought Regina couldn't see the baby, for she might give the virus to her?" Daniel asked.

The nurse nodded. "That's why I'm putting her in a NICU, that way she will be protected from the virus, but Regina can still see her."

* * *

Emma was sitting with Regina as the nurse brought the baby into the room.

"Ooh she is so small." Emma gasped. "Henry wasn't.."

"..that small when he was born. Yes, I know, that's what I thought too." Regina smiled softly, a tear rolled down her face. "I just wish I could hold my baby."

Emma gently squeezed Regina's hand. "Well, don't you worry about that. I spoke to Dr. Whale and he said the risk of contamination will be gone by tomorrow."

"Hey Henry." Regina said happily as he and Daniel entered the room.

"Hi mom." Henry said while he was awkwardly standing at the door, Daniel next to him.

"I know how you're feeling boy." Daniel said with a smirk. "It's killing me too that I can't hug her."

Regina laughed at this. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, if don't really want a hug at the moment, for my body still hurts from the fever and the surgery. Although a kiss wouldn't have hurt."

"And what do you think, Henry? Did we do a good job." Regina joked.

Henry's face frowned a little at what Regina was implying. "Yuk mom. But, yes, she's the best little sister I could imagine."

Regina smiled surprised as Henry called her daughter his little sister, just like Cora had done. "You see her as your sister?" She asked.

Henry looked up. "Well, yeah. I mean, you _are_ my mom, mom, whether you like it or not, so she's my sister." He said determined.

Regina smiled at that, tears in her eyes. "Well, mission accomplished Henry, now I hate it that I can't hug you too."

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Two days later Regina was released from the hospital, she was sitting in a wheel chair pushed forward by Daniel with the still nameless baby in her arms. Deciding upon what to call their newborn seemed to be harder than they'd thought.

Daniel you've missed the turn to my mother's home, Regina said after a while.

"I know." Was all he said.

"Well, then turn around."

"We're not going to Cora's."

"But I thought you said we were going home." Regina answered confused.

"O but that we are, honey. You just wait and be patient." Daniel said trying to suppress a smile as Regina huffed.

However her eyes went wide as they turned a corner and she saw all her friends and family waiting for her in front of the mansion on Mifflin street.

"O.." She whispered. "We're going _home_ home."

As she entered the house she got greeted by Ashley, and Belle and Ruby and Granny and as she eventually saw Archie standing she couldn't hold back her tears any longer.

"O my god, I have to learn to stop crying all the time." She laughed through her tears as she handed her daughter over to her mother so she could give Archie a hug.

"I've missed you Regina." Was all Archie said. "We've all missed you."

"Now let's go to the kitchen to get the food, Snow baked a cake." Emma said eagerly.

"Well you certainly haven't changed a bit, Emma." Regina remarked. "Food is still the most important thing in your life."

"One of the most important things. It's a tie with you guys." Emma stated with a grin.

"Emma, I can't believe you put your parents and your son and family at the same level as food." Snow said shocked.

"Well I want cake too." Henry stated and so he walked to the kitchen.

"What can I say, we share the same genetics." Emma said with a big grin as she followed her son.

* * *

"I'm going to check on the baby." Regina said as she put down her glass and excused herself from the conversation with Ruby and Ashley she was in.

As she made her way to the stairs she heard someone following her, pretending she didn't notice she set a few steps and then suddenly turned around, seeing a startled Henry standing behind her.

"Got you, you're a failed spy, mister." She joked.

Henry's cheeks turned red. "I – I was wondering if I could come with you. So I can see her again."

Regina smiled. "Of course you can. Come." She said as she put her arm around him and they walked to the baby's room together.

As they entered the nursery Regina saw her daughter lying in her cradle awake, eyes wide open staring at the ceiling.

"Oo, she finally opened her eyes." Regina exclaimed happily.

"Well then I'm glad I decided to follow you." They heard a voice behind them as Daniel entered the nursery.

"Hi baby girl." She cooed as she took the baby in her arms. "Let me see those eyes of you."

"She has your eyes." Daniel stated as he looked into the brown orbs of his beautiful daughter.

"yes, but not quite." Henry now said. "From where I'm standing there seems to be some light purple in it."

Regina nodded. "You're right, I see it too." "Brown eyes were to ordinary for you hm?" she cooed again.

Daniel smiled as he pulled Regina, and his daughter with it in for a hug. "She's perfect." He said.

"Come Henry, join our little hug." Regina said to Henry who was awkwardly standing in the room studying the light purple wallpaper. "I know you want to."

Henry's cheeks turned red once again, but he walked to his mom nonetheless and felt happy as he felt her arm wrapped around him.

"You should call her Violet." He then said. "Because of her eyes. And the room is purple, so that kinda matches too."

Daniel laughed. "I like it." He then said. "Which probably means Regina won't."

But Regina shook her head. "No. Violet is perfect. I like it. You like Violet?" She then asked the baby in her arms. As the baby just stared up to her mother with her wide eyes Regina smiled.

"Well she didn't start crying, so I think she's fine with it." Daniel smiled.

"Then Violet it is." Regina said.

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Cora was cutting out a new article that had appeared in one of the magazines about Regina.

"Mother, we're going." Regina said as she entered the study her mother was in. "What are you doing." She asked confused as she saw Cora putting the article into a file with other articles and pictures of her.

Cora stood up from her chair and walk towards Regina, taking her daughters hands in her hands. "I'm so proud of you. Of all you have accomplished by yourself. And, I am so glad you let me be a part of it again. I did wrong once, I know that, and it made that I had to miss you for so many years. I don't want that to happen again, I don't want to miss anything anymore. So I collect all the articles you appear in, all the pictures I find of you. So I can remember it all, and can look at them when you're not here."

"Mother.."Regina whispered. She didn't really know what to do. She wanted to say her mother that she loved her, but somehow she still couldn't do it. So instead she hugged her mother. "I'll visit soon. Daniel and I have decided to stay here as much as we can. It's better for Violet to grow up in an environment like this than in the big city. And thanks to the border enchantment I won't have to worry about paparazzi when I'm here." Regina said as she slowly pulled away from the hug.

"I'm going now. See you soon." She said with a smile as she left the room.

Cora went back to her chair with a smile, but stopped as she suddenly felt the presence of magic in her room. As she slowly turned around she saw no one but Rumpelstiltskin standing in the study.

"Why, wasn't that the sweetest scene I've ever seen, dearie." He grinned.

"What do you want Rumpel." Cora said coldly, not trying to show the fear she felt.

"Simple, I want to strike a deal." the imp said as he walked closer to Cora.

"And what makes you think, I want to do the same." Cora said. "After all you did to my daughter?"

"My, you really did change, didn't you? However, you _are_ going to strike this deal dearie."

"Is that so?"

The man nodded. "Oh yes, 'cause if you don't, you might want to enjoy the time with your granddaughter a little more, for she won't be around for too long."

Cora's face paled. "If you do as much as _look_ at Violet, I swear I'll – "

"You'll do _what_, dearie? Use your magic on me? The magic _I_ taught you? You'll do your worst? While _I_ showed you how to? I don't think so. The only way you can stop your granddaughter from being harmed, is when you'll strike this with me. So, what will it be?"

Cora swallowed visibly as she tried to think of something, however nothing that could help her and her family out of this situation came up, and so she made up her mind. "Fine." She said. "And what is it you want me to do that will prevent you from harming the ones I love?"

Gold send her an evil grin. "I'm glad you've come to your senses, dearie." Was all he said.

**Dum dum dummmm**

**I'm planning on not making this story very much longer, however I do have to work out the Gold thing before I can end it so don't worry :P In the meanwhile I started another fiction too 'A silhouette of you' so I'll be working on that one too.**

**Please R&R, what do you think Gold will want from Cora?**

**x**

**Metope**


	23. Chapter 22

**Lovesick imbeciles**

"So. When am I finally going to see you perform in real life?" Daniel asked as he pressed a kiss to Regina's temple.

Regina turned her head to look at him, they were sitting on the couch watching a movie, she had snuggled up to him. Violet was sound asleep upstairs.

She shrugged. "I don't know." She said. "I've been asked to join a musical concert that's in a few weeks. But I can only bring my closest friends, which are Ruby, Belle, Ashley, Emma, Snow, and my family, which are my parents and kind of Henry."

"O and if I'm not your closest friend nor family, then what am I to you?" Daniel asked confused.

Regina shrugged again. "You tell me, what do you want to be to me?" She hinted.

Daniel smiled at her. "Me? I want to be your husband." And he kissed her head again.

"Hm.." Regina laughed. "Then maybe you should do something to make that happen."

Daniel let him slide of the couch immediately and went to sit in front of Regina on one knee, getting a small box from his pocket.

"Well, I had planned to do this on another moment, but as you practically forced me to propose to you, I think this time is as good as any other, so I'm asking you, _again_ as a matter of fact: Dear, sweetest, lovely, amazing, smart, beautiful Regina, will you _finally_ be my wife?"

Regina let out a nervous giggle. "I didn't _force_ you." Was the first thing she said, but as Daniel arched his eyebrow unimpressed she let out a wholehearted yes as she threw herself at him and kissed him eagerly causing him to fall on his back.

Daniel kissed his fiancé back just as eagerly as he slowly opened the buttons of Regina's jacket. However, they got interrupted by the sounds coming from the baby phone. Regina sighed. "Your daughter sure knows when to time things."

"O she's my daughter now?" Daniel asked as he reluctantly let go of Regina as she stood up to get her daughter out of bed.

Regina just laughed as she left the room.

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"Congratulations Regina." Archie said with a big smile on his face. "That's great news to hear. I'm really proud of you that you wanted to try marriage again. When are you planning on getting married?"

Regina was sitting on Archie's couch, she had decided she wanted to continue the sessions with Archie, it was nice to be able to talk to someone without it having any consequences, once in a while.

"Yes. I have to admit, a few weeks ago I felt so unsure, and I was so afraid he was going to ask me and I didn't know if I wanted to marry again after Leopold.. But then Violet was suddenly there, and that changed everything. And to be honest, I couldn't be happier. We're getting married in about a month. First I'm going to do this big musical concert in NY, which I'm really excited about too. I mean, I loved making the CD and promoting it and everything, but my heart lies with musical theatre. I miss the dancing, the acting the storytelling. So I am really glad I got the chance to do this, this will give me the chance to get back in the game, you know."

Archie smiled as he saw Regina's eyes light up as soon as she started to talk about how excited she was about the wedding and about doing what she loved.

"Well it's good to hear you're trying to pick up your life again. And what about your daughter? I expect you'll be move to your apartment in New York while you rehearse for the concert? Will you take her with you?"

"Well we didn't figure out everything yet, but the plan is indeed to move temporarily to New York. Daniel is going to move his practice from Boston to New York, so he won't have to go to Boston all the time. The only problem is that rehearsals are, unlike the shows, by day, and Daniel works by day too so even though we'll both be able to work from New York, we'll still have a problem."

Archie nodded understandingly. "Well why don't you ask your parents to look after Violet for a while? You'll only be away for two weeks after all?"

Regina's face darkened. "I don't know." She said as she looked down at her hands.

"And why is that?" Archie asked as he felt he had hit something now.

"I- don't know." Regina said again.

"I think you do. I think you're just afraid to tell me." Archie said. "You don't _have_ to tell me, of course, but I think that, maybe if you did, I could help you."

Regina said nothing, and Archie waited patiently until she was ready to talk.

"But I feel so horrible about it." She then whispered.

"About what?"

"About that I still don't – About that I still _can't_ trust my mother." Regina now said, looking up at Archie with tears in her eyes. "She's so nice to me all the time. She's really changed, I can see that, but still, I just _can't_. I'm expecting her to turn on me all the time. I- She says she loves me, but I just can't say it back and I don't want her to leave alone with Violet. And I feel so bad about it, because she's trying so hard, I can see she is." A sob escaped from her lips.

"Regina, listen to me." Archie started. "It's alright for you to feel that way. Your mother – She – You've known her to be this harsh, horrible woman for such a long time. It's perfectly understandable that you find it hard to fully trust her again now she's changed. That's nothing to be ashamed about, and from what I see you're making great progress. Leaving your daughter alone is a big step. She's still so young, all mothers have great difficulty to be away from their child for the first time, it's only natural that when you decide to do so, you want her to be in an environment you fully trust. And if that's not with your parents, then that's perfectly okay."

Regina looked at Archie, whipping away the tears that kept on falling. "But then what do I do?"

"Well, you can try to figure something out with Daniel, or you can find a babysitter when you're in New York or you can try to think of someone else you trust." Archie said with a reassuring smile.

"I don't like the idea of a babysitter, I'd would take ages to find the right one, and there's no way I can bring her to work nor can Daniel, so that's not an option, but finding someone else to take care of her might work. I could try to think of someone, yes." Regina said.

"Well, do you already have someone in mind?" Archie asked. "Someone you know will never purposely hurt your daughter and will be able to take care of her?"

Regina's cheeks turned a little red. "Okay, this is going to sound pretty weird, but..I kind of trust Snow and David."

Archie's mouth fell open at Regina's statement. "O.." Was all he said.

"Yes, you know. When I was still Gina, when I didn't know who I was they were there for me, even though they knew who I was and what I did to them. Snow helped me when Collin broke up with me, she was there for me. And, I know I once held her responsible for Daniel's dead, but, she was just a girl back then, I just held her responsible because I couldn't blame my mother, I know that now. And..Snow is the most caring, loving woman I've ever known, so I know she'll never hurt Violet, and she'll be perfectly able to take care of her while I'm away, it's in her nature. And she's together with David, so they both can take care of her." Regina defended her decision.

"Okay, okay. I hear you. No need to get upset with me." Archie smiled. "Well if you feel that is the right decision, you should ask them."

Regina nodded. "I'll ask Daniel if he's okay with this and if so, we'll go ask them."

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"And, dearie, what do you have for me?" Rumpelstiltskin asked as Cora entered the mausoleum.

"She's going to New York for two weeks. Daniel is going with her, she's leaving Violet to the care of Snow and David."

The imp giggled. "How odd. She trusts her daughter to the care of the woman that betrayed her. But that's actually good news. I'll be able to get the child much easier now those two lovesick imbeciles are looking after her."

Cora's eyes grew wide. "You – We have a deal. You can't do that to Violet. You said you wouldn't harm her if I agreed to the deal." She gasped.

"Oh no no no dearie. Who said anything about harming the precious little child? She's much to valuable for that."

"What do you mean?" Cora asked as fear made her voice weak and little.

"O come now dearie. Don't act like you didn't notice already."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cora said stern.

"Well, maybe that's why I the Dark one, and have all this power and you're…well…_you_. But we both know the purple in that baby's eyes isn't just a nice touch of color. This child, your _granddaughter_, she's so powerful, magic is flowing through her blood already. Her eyes are proof of it."

"Rumpelstiltskin, don't you _dare_ touch that baby or my daughter even with one finger." Cora now said as she found her strength again and set a step in his direction.

"I'm growing tired of those empty threats dearie. There's nothing you can do. If you won't do it willingly I'll just _make_ you do it." The imp said with an evil grin suddenly holding Cora's heart in his hand, squeezing it just a little but enough for Cora to grimace in pain. "It's your call, dearie."

Cora sighed, she knew Regina and Violet's best chance would be if she would work with Rumpelstiltskin, that way she might be able to try to prevent the imp without him knowing. Would he make her do everything by controlling her heart there would be no hope left.

"What do you want me to do?" She therefore asked.

Rumpelstiltskin laughed his odd laugh as he thought he had won Cora over to the dark side again.

**A short chapter, but I wanted to give you an update :P. Next update may take a while, for I have an essay deadline for next week..After that I'm all yours again ^^.**

**R&R **

**x**

**Metope**


	24. Chapter 23

**Pieces**

"She looks so much like Regina when she was this young." Cora said as she watched how Snow was changing Violet into clean clothes after she'd thrown up on her old ones. Cora came to visit Snow and

David quite often now Regina and Daniel were both away and Violet was staying over there.

"Except for her hair, I assume." Snow said as she smiled at the baby, whose dark hairs had made place for blonde ones.

"Yes," Cora said with a smile. "That's Daniel's fault. A Mills woman with blonde hair, it shouldn't be allowed."

"That's what I thought when the curse broke and I realized my daughter had blonde hair." Snow laughed as she took the baby in her arms and walked down stairs with her followed by Cora.

"Well, I should go." Cora said.

Snow nodded. "I expect you'll stop by tomorrow again?" She asked teasingly as she got Cora's coat for her.

"Yes. Can't take the risk of my granddaughter slowly being 'charmanized'." Cora laughed back.

Snow grinned, it was really weird how her and Cora's relationship had changed, Snow thought, it probably was because they both really cared about Regina. They understood each other better now.

Cora had really changed, and Snow actually started to like the woman.

As Snow opened the door to let Cora out she was met with Daniel standing in front of her just about to press the doorbell.

"Daniel!" Snow exclaimed happily. "I didn't expect you to be around anytime soon. I thought you were moving your practice and everything?"

Daniel smiled. "Well, things went better than expected. I'm about done in Boston, so I thought I'd stop by to see my daughter first before I go to New York to finally be with Regina."

Before Snow could react Cora walked past her to Daniel. "Well, I'm happy to hear that Daniel. Especially with all those pictures in the magazines of Regina with some guy in a club I think it's a good thing you go to New York."

"Uh- what? What did you say Cora?" Daniel asked confused.

"O don't worry dear. I'm sure it's nothing, but it wouldn't hurt to get over there as soon as possible." Cora said. "Well, I have to go now. Have a nice day." And with that the woman left.

Snow shook her head as she gestured Daniel to come in. "Don't listen to her, Daniel. She's talking about gossip magazines, you know how they are, they manipulate their photos just so that they show exactly what they want them to show. Regina would never cheat on you. She's just doing this to hurt you; apparently she hasn't changed as much as I thought."

Daniel nodded but he didn't seem to convinced by Snow's words.

* * *

The grin that had been on Cora's face as she left Snow's apartment disappeared as soon as she heard the door close behind her. She had done her job, had done what Rumplestiltskin had asked of her. The look on Daniel's face had shown her that she had succeeded in her task.

"_You are going to make sure there is going to be some trouble in paradise for those two lovebirds. We need to shake things up a little in Loveland, let them have a good fight, so that after, I can pick up the pieces, as you would call it. She belongs to me, and she always will. As does her daughter._ Rumple had said. She had thrown a few fireballs at him after hearing this for which she got punished by several firm squeezes in her heart by the Dark One. And so Cora had eventually obeyed his orders and as soon as she had seen the horribly manipulated pictures in the gossip magazine she had known exactly how to make sure there would be trouble. She'd actually been a little disappointed in Daniel that he believed her so easily, because he believed her, she had seen it in his eyes. After all he and Regina had been through she had thought he would have trusted Regina more. Regina would never ever cheat on Daniel, Cora knew that, no matter what those pictures may insinuate. There could be a hundred reasons why Regina was standing so close to and dancing with that young man on the pictures, she told herself. Cora sighed as she slowly walked back to her house, she had to think of something to stop Rumplestiltskin soon.

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Daniel was waiting outside Regina's apartment when he heard laughing coming from the end of the hallway. He really hoped it was Regina, it was really stupid but he still didn't have a key to the apartment in New York. As he turned his head to where the laughter came from he saw Regina coming round the corner together with a guy. They were laughing and the guy had his arm wrapped around Regina's shoulders.

As they came closer and Regina noticed Daniel her face lit up. "Daniel!" She exclaimed happily as she ran to him and gave him a kiss. "I didn't expect you here so soon yet. You should have called, we totally forgot to get you a key. Have you been waiting long? By the way this is Oliver. He will also be singing at the concert, we have a duet together." Regina rambled.

Oliver nodded politely to Daniel who returned the gesture.

"Well." Oliver said. "I guess I'll just leave you two together for tonight. 'Gina dear. I'll see you tomorrow." He said as he gave Regina a hug.

Daniel eyes widened as he saw how Regina returned the hug. "Yes. Only three days before the big concert. It's gonna be awesome. See you tomorrow." She smiled and then turned to the door to open it for her and Daniel as Oliver walked away.

* * *

"Did you have dinner yet?" Regina asked as soon as they got inside. "I haven't eaten anything and I was planning on just warming up some left-overs but now you're here I can actually cook something?"

When Daniel didn't respond she turned around and saw him staring at her with an unfamiliar look in his eyes. "Is something wrong Daniel?"

Daniel shook his head. "Who is that guy?"

"You mean Oliver? I told you, we work together." Regina said. "Why?"

"You seem very close."

Regina smiled. "Yes, he really is a good friend. He's really funny and the duet we do together will be amazing. He helps me to improve my dancing, I can do a side-aerial now you know? And I help him with his singing. But, _did_ you eat already or not? Cause I'm kinda hungry so I want to get started."

"Hm." Was all Daniel said.

Regina turned around again. "Gee Daniel, what's wrong with you?" She asked a little annoyed.

"What's wrong with me?" Daniel now asked as he raised his voice. "You ask that to _me_? I could better ask you? That guy, that Oliver, he has his arms around you, Cora is talking about pictures in magazines of you dancing with 'some guy' and then now you're acting like nothing is going on?"

Regina mouth had fallen open. "I- Da" She stammered and she shook her head and took a deep breath. When she looked back up to Daniel he knew he had made a mistake. Her eyes were dark and cold. "Daniel," she said in a sugar sweet voice. "I don't know what my mother has told you, or whatever photo's you're talking about. But I can assure you there is nothing for you to worry about, on _that_ matter. Oliver is one of my best and closest friends, he has been for years, and if it makes you feel any better, he's very very _very_ gay, so I think that's enough proof. However, the fact that it only takes a few pictures, and his arm resting amicably on my shoulder to make you think I'd do such a horrible thing as _cheating_ on you, and to make you behave like _this_ and talk to me and yell at me like you _just_ did. _That_ is something to worry about. Because, I can assure you, that I'm very _very_ hurt by the fact that you trust me that little. And I would like for you to leave my apartment for now and go for a walk or something, because I don't want to see you right now and I'm very hungry so I'm not planning on going anywhere." With that she turned back to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator rather violently to get some left-overs. As she heard Daniel open and close the front door she finally allowed herself to cry.

* * *

As Daniel re-entered - he had been as smart as to think to take Regina's key with him- the apartment he found Regina on the couch watching television. He could see she had been crying. He went so sit next to her on the couch. "Can we talk?"

Regina shrugged as she continued watching TV. "I don't know what there is to talk. It seems to me that you made up your mind already."

Daniel sighed. "I'm sorry Regina. I truly am. It's just – After what Cora had said, and seeing you like that with Oliver. I just thought.."

"Yes but that's just it, Daniel." Regina now said turning her head to look at him, tears had started to fall again. "You shouldn't have thought. You should have trusted me. I would _never_ cheat on you. Not _ever_. I don't understand how you can think I would!"

Now it was Daniel's turn to shrug. "Well. I don't see why that is so hard to believe. You're a beautiful woman, you're smart, you're talented, you've accomplished so much in your life already, you're famous, you're popular, and I'm just….a vet. Nothing more. To me it doesn't seem too weird at all if you might decide one day that I'm not enough for you."

The anger that had been in Regina's eyes now changed into sadness. "But Daniel." She said in an unsteady voice. "How can you even think something like that. You're wonderful. You're smart, you're funny, you know so much about the things you love, you help me to control my anger when needed, you're always there for me, you're the most handsome man I could wish me and not in the least, you're the father of our daughter. Together we have the most beautiful daughter in the world. How can you ever think I would stop loving you. You're everything to me. And I'm sorry, I'm sorry I made you feel that way. The last couple of weeks have been crazy and I now realize you've told me several times how much you love me, but I haven't said it back to you often enough. And I'm sorry for that. Because, I _do_ love you. You're my world, you and Violet make my world complete, and I know that sounds extremely cheesy but it's the truth."

Daniel responded by closing the remaining distance between him and Regina and pull her into the most loving hug he could give her while kissing her just as lovingly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear.

"I'm sorry too." She whispered back.

After a while she pulled away from the hug and stood up from the couch.

"What are you going to do?" Daniel asked.

"I'm going to call my mother." Regina said with an angry frown. "Clearly she hasn't let go of her desire to break us apart. And I'm going to give her a piece of my mind." She sighed as she dialled the number, she had hoped so much that her mother had changed, but this one action proved once again that her mother hadn't. She was glad she hadn't left Violet with her mother; her mother still didn't understand anything of what she wanted. It was still all about Cora, her mother didn't love her.

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Cora had been talking to Rumplestiltskin in her study when Regina had called.

"Well. It didn't work; she and Daniel are still together, and stronger than ever, if I have to believe Regina." Cora said with an unsteady voice after Regina had hung up. "The only thing is that she doesn't trust me anymore, I'm back to where I was with her in our relationship. Thank you very much."

"O now dearie don't start crying, you did your job very well actually." The imp grinned.

"What do you mean. I just told you the trouble in paradise you were speaking of didn't last long enough for Regina to break. There are no pieces to pick up." Cora now said angrily.

"O dearie, on the contrary. There _are_ pieces to pick up. Your dear daughter now believes again her mother doesn't love her. She's so desperate for her mother's approval and love and with this you've proven to her you don't love her, that you don't have her best interest at heart." The imp laughed. "And I will be all too happy to help her pick up _those_ broken pieces."

**I'm back :) Finished my essay so I have time to write fanfiction again :).**

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. Despite all your asking I do am trying to bring this story to an end, but don't worry I'll probably will need at least 2 or 3 chapters to do so :).**

**Please R&R :)**

**x**

**Metope**


	25. Chapter 24

**Dearie**

"Are you sure you don't want to come? We can just take Violet with us and find a babysitter for her over there, I'm sure Regina would be fine with it, she invited us all after all." David asked Snow as he put on his coat, it was the evening before the day of Regina's concert. Regina had invited them all to come see the concert and it was time to leave now to catch their flight to New York – Regina's popularity and newly found status had made it possible for them to get really cheap plane-tickets – from the company.

Snow shook her head. "No, no. It's better for Violet if I stay here; a five month old baby in a plane isn't the best scenario one could write. I'm fine with it; I'll just watch her on television."

From outside they now heard the claxon of Emma's yellow bug. "I believe you have to go." Snow smiled. "Now, off with you. I hope you'll have a wonderful time there and wish Regina luck for me." She kissed him softly on the lips before pushing him towards the door.

David smiled at her. "I love you. He said, and keep your eyes open to see if I'm on television at any moment." He winked at her.

"I will" Snow laughed. "And I'll find you."

"I know that." David now said while he was walking down the hall. "Because you'll always find me!"

Snow laughed as she closed the door and let out a sigh. She'd lied to Charming, not a very big lie, but still a lie. She did want to go to see Regina, and it did bother her that she couldn't go now, but the thing was...she was terribly afraid of flying. And there was absolutely no way that she was going to step on a plane _ever_ in her life, nor was she _ever_ going to admit to Charming that she was afraid, she would never hear the end of it. So if that meant she would stay home alone, then so be it, even though Ruby, Granny, Emma, Henry, David, Cora and Henry, Belle and Ashley all got to spend a wonderful time in New York. At least she got Violet, Snow thought. She'd really come to love the little girl in these past few weeks. The girl had brought her and Regina closer too, the times that Regina came to visit her and her daughter had always been nice and fun, they were friends now, dare she say it. With a smile Snow walked over to the crib only to find it to be empty. Her breath caught and she ran to the window to see if maybe David and the rest were still outside and Violet was with them. No one was outside however, they were already gone.

"Ok. Snow. Don't panic. Just think. It's a five month old baby. She hasn't started crawling yet and there is no way in general that she's gotten out of the crib by herself. So. Someone must have taken her." She said out loud to herself. "Practically everyone is gone to see Regina and Daniel and it just doesn't make sense for any of them to take her. So they can be scraped off the list…" As Snow let these thoughts get through to her, it slowly dawned on her that the only one that could have taken Violet was Rumpelstiltskin in that case. "Time to pay a visit to Gold's pawn shop it is." She said to herself, and immediately thought she should watch less Star Wars with Henry after that, Yoda was taking over her way of talking.

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Cora slowly opened her eyes to find herself lying on the ground in what probably was the basement of Rumplestiltskin's pawn shop. She closed her eyes again, trying to remember what had happened. As if she was hit by lightening the memories came back to her.

Rumpelstiltskin had called her to come over. It had been around 10 PM. so she had asked him if it couldn't wait till tomorrow, the sharp sting of pain she felt after her question told her it couldn't. So she'd told Henry she had left her phone with Snow and would go and get it, and went off to Gold's shop.

Annoyed she'd asked what he wanted. "_I've got big news to share with you dearie."_ He had said, that devilish smile plastered on his face and the evil twinkle in his eye.

"_O, have you now?_" She'd replied. "_I suggest you tell me and then I'll decide for myself whether it's big news or not."_

_He had giggled._ _"I've found a way to use magic outside Storybrooke."_

"_Well congratulations with that. I'm sure that will be of great use to you. The people outside of this town won't think it to be weird seeing a man using magic for a single second." Cora answered dryly._

"_O dearie, sometimes I wonder how a woman so slow as you can have a daughter so bright and talented as yours is. Must be due to the genetics of your husband. O and now don't get angry, you know you're not in the position to be." The imp smiled his devilish grin._

"_Now where was I. Oh yes. I've found a way to use magic outside of Storybrooke." He got a necklace with a dark blue pendant from the counter. "Wear __this__ and you'll still be able to use magic outside Storybrooke." The imp grinned. _

_Cora let out an annoyed sigh. "Honestly Rumplestiltskin. What do you want me to do? Do I have to applaud? Cheer for you?"_

_The Dark One shook his head. "O no, dearie. The only reason you're here is so I can take your place to get to Regina." And with that she felt his cane come down to her head and everything had gone black._

Slowly Cora got up again. Her head pounded and hurt very badly but now wasn't the time to worry about that: She needed to find a way out of this basement, teleporting herself out of here was useless as she felt the basement contained magic that prevented her to do so. Quickly she created a source of light in her hand to examine the walls. There was one door in the basement that was, of course, locked, Cora felt. She tried to figure out where the basement was situated, she couldn't remember ever seeing another door in his shop other than the one leading to the back of the store. Which meant, Cora thought, that this may very well be a fake door. Slowly she let her eyes scan the room again, nothing seemed out of place, the basement was rather empty for a few empty boxes in one of the corner. Then it hit her, she was under the ground, which meant maybe she had to look up, and indeed in the ceiling she saw a small trap-door. Cora couldn't help but smile as she examined the spells that were keeping the door locked. She shook her head, Rumpelstiltskin clearly underestimated her, it wasn't like she had done nothing with her time in Wonderland, she'd learned some more about magic, although she hadn't let him know that. She may be rusty by not using magic for so long, but these locks, it wouldn't be so hard to open them. And so Cora concentrated on the locks and with not too much effort indeed she managed to open them. When she looks to the now open door she expected to see the roof of Gold's shop but is met with a dark blue night sky instead.

"Now how do I get up there." She said to herself, getting the door open was one thing, getting up there with magic preventing her from levitating or teleporting herself was another.

She felt her head pound more and more so she let herself sit on the ground for a while her back resting against the cold wall. She feels herself break the moment she lets herself relax a bit, a tear strolling down her face. Quickly she wipes the tear away. "Stop the crying, Cora." She says to herself. "Crying will bring you nowhere, you got to get out of here." She let out a shaky breath as she got up again trying not to think of what Rumplestiltskin was planning on doing to Regina because it only made her head hurt more.

Suddenly she heard someone's footsteps approaching. Cora didn't hesitate for a second and started yelling.

"Hello? Is someone there? Can you please help me? Rumplestiltskin if that's you, I swear I'm going to kill you, I don't care if you'll kill me first, I'll try anyways!"

But Cora wasn't greeted by the imps head hanging above the open trap-door, it was Snow.

"Cora!" She gasped. "What- What are you doing there? I thought you'd left with the others? How come you're down there? Where is Rumplestiltskin, are you two working together again?" Snow rambled.

Cora let out an annoyed huff. "Dear Snow. Stop the rambling, it doesn't suite you, and listen. Would you really think I would humiliate myself by desperately asking for help from down here, if I was fine, if I was working with that imp for heaven's sake? Of course not. Rumplestiltskin had me locked up here. You've got to get me out so we can go after him, he's planning on hurting Regina. And no, I can't get out by myself because the basement prevents me from using magic. Now be a good girl and go find a rope or something to pull me out of this basement." Cora lectured.

All Snow did was nod, eyes still wide, and get up to do as Cora had told her.

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"Okay now come inside, we're going to search through his stuff to find something that can help us." Cora said as soon as Snow had helped her out of the basement after several failed attempts and had told Snow how she had ended up there in the first place.. But as Cora started to walk towards the shop she felt herself get dizzy and Snow was just in time to help her steady herself.

"Cora, not to offend you or anything. But I think it's best if we first get that nasty bump on your head checked out. You're clearly not alright." Snow stated.

Cora opened her mouth to protest but as she saw Snow's stern look she knew she didn't feel good enough to argue with her. "Fine." She sighed.

"That's what I thought." Snow said. "Now, do you think you can teleport us to the hospital or do we have to walk?"

Cora looked at the dark haired woman in disbelieve. "You tell me you came here _walking_ from your place? What were you doing here anyways?"

"Yes well I kind of panicked." Snow said. "Violet is gone, and I figured with practically everyone with a motive to take her out of town, it could only be Gold so I went over here to check if I could find anything."

"What!" Cora cried out, which caused another sting of pain running through her head. "You _lost_ my granddaughter to that horrible twisted _imp_! And you wanted to go the hospital first? I'll tell you something, we're going to search for my granddaughter first and _after_ I will go to the hospital. And if we _don_'_t_ find her you might need a trip to the hospital too if I'm done with you." Cora's eyes were burning with fire.

Snow's eyes were wide once again, as she did nothing but nod – once again. "Well – where do you suggest we'll look first?"

"Well. Rumpelstiltskin must have left her in Storybrooke, he's going to Regina in my form so he cannot take Violet with him. Therefore, I think it's a good guess to first go look in his shop." Cora said and she started continue to walk in the direction of the shop.

* * *

As they entered the shop they didn't have to look for long, for the girl was sleeping in the room behind the shop.

"O dear God there she is." Snow cried out happily if she walked towards the crib.

"No wait!" Cora yelled but she was too late as she saw how Snow got shot back by an invisible magic shield, she had felt was protecting the child. "..there's a magical shield keeping anyone from getting too close to her." Cora finished her sentence.

"Yes." Snow said as she slowly got up her face contorted in pain. "So I felt. So what do we do now?"

Cora shrugged. "We do nothing. This spell, it can only be broken by the one that casted it. So our best shot is trying to find Rumpelstiltskin."

"But, we can't leave her alone." Snow said shocked. "What is she needs anything?"

"She won't, he's put her in a magical sleep. She won't wake up, nor will she be hungry or need anything else. Which is actually quite convenient, for now we can fully focus on stopping the imp from getting to my daughter." Cora said with pursed lips.

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_Please note that the Cora I'm writing about below is in fact Rumpelstiltskin ;-)._

"Here it is." Henry said as he stopped before an apartment in New York on the third floor, Regina and Daniel's apartment. They had arrived fairly late in New York the day before, and everyone was all too happy to find an extremely comfortable bed in a fairly expensive looking hotel room waiting for them. Henry had remarked having a popular friend, or mom in his case, sure had its benefits.

The next day they'd all had breakfast together and split from there, Ashley, Belle and Ruby decided to go shopping a little, taking Granny with them for she'd never really been to New York before, whereas Emma, Henry, David, Cora and Henry sr. decided to visit Regina and Daniel as they'd planned to do.

"Nice building they live in." Emma said. "It's even better than the apartment I had in Boston, and for New York that means it's probably rather expensive to live here."

"Well, I believe Daniel's practice is doing great, and Regina's album sells fine, so I guess they can afford it." David remarked.

Emma nodded as she pressed the bell.

Daniel opened the door and before anyone could greet him pressed his finger to his lips to make clear they had to be quite. "Hi." He whispered. "Regina came home very late from rehearsal yesterday, she's still sleeping, but you can come in. I'll make you some coffee and wake her after."

Henry sr. smiled at how thoughtful Daniel was being. He truly was proud to have Daniel as his son-in-law. "How's she been doing?" He asked Daniel as he made his way into the room, followed by the others.

"She's being doing great." Daniel said as he was making coffee for the adults. "She misses Violet, of course. But aside from that, she's much happier now than I've seen her in a while. The stage, it truly is where she belongs, I can see it in her eyes when she talks about her day at rehearsal, even when she's talking about the annoying girl she's to work with there, Monica, that spark doesn't leave her eyes."

"Monica is the one that's responsible for me having a sister now right?" Henry asked from the couch he had settled himself on.

Daniel let out a soft laugh. "Yes, Henry. Due to her bad tasting cookies Violet got into this world."

A door opened and a very sleepy looking Regina, hair up in a messy ponytail, wearing an oversized white t-shirt and a grey sweatpants entered the room wiping sleep from her eyes. "You're here already." She said surprised with a voice still heavy from sleep.

Henry smiled at the sight of his daughter. She truly was so different from her old self, her old self would have rather died than be seen like this. "Don't worry honey, we'll just wait til you're ready. It's no problem." He said.

"Well yes you better wait indeed. You kinda need me if you want to spend time with me." She remarked.

Henry jr. now ran to her and gave her a hug. "Hi mom, I've missed you." He said. Regina smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "Hi sweety. I've missed you too. Now tell me, have you been a good boy while we were away?" She said teasingly, knowing he always was.

"Of course." Henry laughed.

"Hm. Good, and, any girls interested in you already?" She then asked, causing both Emma and David to almost choke in their coffee. Luckily they didn't have to say anything as Henry, clearly not wanting to talk about this particular subject did it for them.

"Mom! Don't ask that. Don't you need to get yourself dressed or something?" He asked, his face al red as he tried to push her back to the bedroom again.

Regina laughed and walked away from him towards the kitchen. "I'm first going to make myself some breakfast if you don't mind." It was only then she noticed Cora being in the room too.

"Mother." She said with a voice that no longer hold the laughter it had just had. "You've come too. What a….surprise."

The rest of the group, not knowing about what had happened between Regina and Cora, stared surprised at Regina and her sudden change of mood.

"Well, you've invited me, so why shouldn't I come." Cora said.

"Well yes, but that was before I found out you were still trying to drive a wig between me and Daniel." Regina said with a fake smile.

Daniel walked over to Regina and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Let it go Regina. I'm sure your mother didn't mean it like that. It was just a mistake. Else she wouldn't be here, right Cora?"

Cora nodded. "Yes, yes. I came to apologize too. I shouldn't have done what I've done." _Truth was, Gold had no idea what Cora had done to try to break Regina and Daniel apart, he hadn't cared how she'd done it, as long as she'd done it._

Regina closed her eyes as she leaned in to Daniel and let out a deep breath. "Okay mother. You know what. I don't want to do this right now, so I'm just going to believe you, even though my instinct is telling me I shouldn't. I want this to be a fun day, and I can't use any more stress than I already have for tonight. So I'm not going to let you ruin it."

Cora nodded. "Thank you dear."

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"So what's the plan Cora?" Snow asked while she was sitting next to the hospital bed Cora was in. Dr. Whale had examined her, luckily the bump on her head was nothing serious, but Whale had wanted to keep her overnight just to be sure. In the meanwhile Snow had called the dwarfs, Archie and the blue fairy and had told them what happened, and now they were all gathered in the small hospital room, to think of a plan.

"The plan is.." Cora started. "The plan is we wait."

"Wait? Wait for what?" Leroy asked.

"We wait for Rumplestiltskin to return, with my daughter probably."

"No we can't do that!" Snow exclaimed, what if he hurts her there already, or what if he hurts anyone else, David, Emma or Daniel or Henry, to get to Regina?"

Cora shook her head. "That's a risk we have to be willing to take. There is no way we can make it in time to New York before Rumplestiltskin will attack. I think he will either try to get to her during or after the concert, when she isn't with Daniel and the rest."

"And what makes you think he will return to Storybrooke with her?" Archie now asked.

"Well, I don't know _what_ exactly he is planning on doing to her. But he keeps exclaiming that Regina belongs to him, that she's his, just as Violet is. And Violet is still here, so therefore I think he'll come back as soon as he gets her."

"And he can.." Snow finished. "Because he's found a way to use magic outside Storybrooke."

"Exactly." Cora said. "So our only chance on winning is when we make sure we're ready for him when he gets here."

"Well. I'd say that can't be too hard." Leroy said. "We distract him and you and mother superior conjure some sort of plan that will stripe him from his powers and there you have it."

Cora shook her head. "It isn't that easy. You won't get much help from me."

"And why is that?" Snow asked sharply.

Cora sighed. "Because Rumplestiltskin has my heart. He can control me, and he will as soon as he finds out we're trying to attack him. He'll either use me against you or crush my heart as soon as he sees I'm fighting against _him_."

"How do we know he isn't controlling you right now?" Snow asked. "You were controlling Aurora back in our world, and we didn't notice at all."

"She isn't being controlled right now." Blue now said. "There's no dark magic at work here right now."

Cora nodded. "Rumple still thinks I'm locked in his basement, I'm of no use to him right now, nor am I a threat so he isn't occupied with me. Which can work to our advantage."

Snow nodded. "Okay. Fine. But then again, what's the plan?"

* * *

**Well that's the end of this chapter ****. I hope you're liking how I'm writing this ****. And I have ****a question****. In the next episode the concert will start, soo…what do you want Regina to sing? I've got one song I'm determined to let her sing already, but I can feature and mention other songs too.. There's going to be this duet with Oliver (from the previous chapter), so what duet would you like for them to sing? Tell me and please R&R ****!**

**X**

**Metope**


	26. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: Songs used: Jar of Hearts -Christina Perri & The Phantom of the Opera - Andrew Lloyd Webber. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING :)**

**He's there**

"Are you excited to finally see Regina on stage, Henry?" Daniel asked the boy as they were finding their places in the big theatre.

"Yes. As a matter of fact I am. I've seen her a couple of times already but still…" Henry said to him.

Daniel nodded. "Well I'm excited too. I think I'm even more nervous for Regina than she is herself."

Henry laughed. "Well, she's nervous too, she's gonna call you about five minutes before the show starts because she'll have stage fright by then. She always does."

"Guess I'll keep my phone on for a little longer then." And indeed five minutes before the curtains would open Daniel's cell phone rang.

"Stage fright?" Daniel asked amused as he picked up his phone.

"_Yes." _Regina sighed. _"It's so stupid, but every time right before I have to get up the stage fear takes over."_

"Well, I can understand." Daniel said. "I mean. It's the first time I'm going to see you live, actually the first time I'm really going to see you perform ever. You better not screw up."

"_Daniel! Of course I won't screw up. This is what I do best."_ Regina said in a huff.

"Well. There you go. No reason to be afraid. You said it yourself, this is what you do best." Daniel replied with a smile, he heard Regina laugh on the other side.

"_I love you."_ She said. "_And now I got to go, curtain call."_ And she quickly hang up before Daniel could reply.

Soon after he had put his phone away the curtains opened. The stage was lit with blue and purple lights and a line of women could be seen, all with their backs towards the stage, clothed in fence net stockings, corsets in either dark purple or red and a hat. The music of 'Big Spender' started and the women slowly turned around after each other.

"Well, this is almost inappropriate for you to watch kid." Emma joked as Henry didn't know where he had to look seeing the woman who'd raised him for 10 years in such clothes. The performance however was amazing.

"She sure can dance." Ruby remarked, and Belle nodded approvingly at this.

The audience was ecstatic when the song was finished and were still applauding as the following number had already started. Regina wasn't in all numbers and sometimes she was in the ensemble dancing, which wasn't a shame though. All the singers and dancers were amazing, they all worked together perfectly. Several musicals passed in review, Grease, Hairspray, Miss Saigon, songs were sung from all the big musicals. Right before the break Regina and Oliver sang their duet and it was indeed, as she'd promised, amazing. Together they sang Westside story's Tonight, which brought them a standing ovation.

"Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm having a great night tonight." Emma said as she came back with drinks for everyone.

Ashley nodded. "Everyone in that cast is amazing. The dances, the sound, the songs, not to mention the costumes!"

Belle nodded. "Yes those dresses! I'm so jealous of Regina that she gets to wear all these wonderful costumes."

"I absolutely loved the dress she wore when she was performing 'glitter and be gay'. It was so horribly pink and had all those ridiculous ruffles, hilarious." Ashley said.

"Well, but that entire number was hilarious. She put it off amazingly well." Ruby said. "And man that woman can sing high notes like it's nothing."

"Although in the first number there was a certain l lack of costume if you ask me." David joked.

Both Henries and Daniel let out a huff. "Must be hard for you three to see your mom, daughter and fiancé like that hm?" Ruby teased.

"O come on." Granny now said. "It was part of the number, it would have been weird if they _didn't_ have such costumes on. Besides, I don't hear Cora complain either."

"Where _is _Cora?" Ashley asked. "I haven't seen her since we left the theater hall."

"She said she was going to the bathroom." Henry jr. said. "Guess she'll be back soon."

Then they heard the familiar sound indicating the second act was about to start. "Well, I'm not going to wait for her." Emma said. "I don't want to miss a thing, so I'm going inside. As Henry said, I'm sure she'll be back soon." And she walked over to the hall again. The rest of the group nodded approvingly and followed her.

However Cora wasn't back in time at all…..

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"God, she can sing so incredibly well." Snow sighed as she stood up from Cora's couch and went to the kitchen to get something to drink for her, Cora and Blue. They'd decided together that it was best to try to keep an eye on Regina, meaning they had to – how unfortunate – watch the concert on television. That way they could keep an eye on her but also on Rumplestiltskin, for they should all be sitting on the front row, and indeed they were. Leroy had hidden himself in Gold's pawn shop to keep an eye on Violet and so that he could warn them the moment Gold would return.

"You must be proud of your daughter, Cora." Blue said kindly and Cora nodded. "Yes. I'm incredibly proud of her. Which makes it hurt even more that she hates me again just as much as she did because she thinks I tried to break her and Daniel apart." She said sadly.

"Oh I'm sure she doesn't hate you, Cora." Blue said. "She's just…disappointed I think."

Cora wanted to reply but got interrupted by the tune on television indicating that commercials were over. "Snow! It's continuing again!" She called instead.

"Coming!" Snow called as she walked out of the kitchen with three refilled glasses.

The audience applauded and the curtains opened again. In the middle of the stage Regina was standing in a long red strapless dress. There was only one spot lighting just her, the rest of the stage was dark. As the music started she slowly looked up straight in the camera as she started to sing _Jar of Hearts_.

_…_

Snow turned her head to watch Cora, worried at how the woman would react to this particular song. The way Regina was singing it, it was very clear to whom she was directing this song, it was clearly readable in her eyes that she wasn't just singing a song here, she was telling a story. And indeed Cora's face was contorted in a sad smile. Proud of her daughter for standing at that stage, performing for so many people, sad because she knew exactly what Regina was trying to say.

When the song was finished a single tear fell from Regina's face as she bowed for the audience and left the stage.

"She doesn't mean it so harsh Cora." Snow whispered, but the older woman shook her head.

"She means it exactly how she's just sung it, Snow. She doesn't want me in her life anymore, and I don't blame her, after all I've done to her."

"But that's because of Rumplestiltskin, Cora! It's not you who is responsible for all this!" Snow said.

Cora shook her head. "No, I don't deserve her. She's right. I've caused her so much pains, all those years. It was foolish of me to think we could leave all of that behind and start over again. I can see she's still struggling with everything. The fact that she cannot say me she loves me, the fact that she doesn't trust me with Violet. It's all too obvious. I just didn't want to see it. I'll help her one more time. I'll meddle into her life one more time, just to make sure she's safe from that monster, and then I'll leave her alone."

Before Snow could reply Blue interrupted them. "Ladies, I don't want to interrupt anything, but…the place where Cora- Rumplestilstskin was sitting, it's empty. She pointed at the television that was currently showing the ecstatic audience and indeed. The seat next to Henry where Rumplestiltskin had been sitting was empty.

"He is going to do something during one of her performances. O god." Cora gasped.

The rest of the show they all saw in a haze, all three of them were completely focused on Regina and her surroundings. Every time again they were afraid whether she would appear on the stage after every announcement or that Rumplestiltskin had already gotten to her, and during every performance they were too focused on what was happening around her to really listen to the songs.

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As soon as Rumplestiltskin saw a chance to slip away he took it. It was time for his plan to unravel. Quickly he made his way to the door that led back stage, just before he entered he changed himself back to his normal self, but with the uniform the crew of the concert wore. He hid the necklace under his shirt, for it would be rather weird to see a man walking around with a necklace with a large blue pendant on it, he thought. "Ok. It's show time."He said to himself as he opened the door to the back stage area, smiling about his own little word joke.

No one really paid attention to him as he entered the space behind the stage. Quickly he made his way up to the dressing rooms of the actors. Now it was just a matter of finding the right dressing room.

As he opened the door of one of the rooms and saw the person sitting there he knew he had chosen the right room. Quickly he jumped the performer and once his victim was unconscious took the costume for the next performance. Before he left he used one spell that would give him the voice of the person he'd just attacked. "Couldn't risk giving a sloppy performance, now could we." He smirked as he left the room and went back to the stage ready to perform._  
_

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Henry was having a wonderful night seeing his mother and the rest of the cast perform. The concert was almost coming to an end. There would be one more song the host of the night told them. As soon as the first tones of an organ sounded through the hall it was clear what the last song would be: The Phantom of the Opera.

Fog covered the stage, chandeliers appeared as the lights dimmed and an mechanical boat entered the stage, Regina sitting on the front in a white long dress, the Phantom behind her in a black cape and hat and his trade mark, white mask on.

The entire audience was silent as Regina started to sing the first notes. Her voice soft and warm filling the entire hall. However when the phantom started to sing, something seemed off. "Is it just me, or is the acting of that man playing the Phantom a little weird?" Ruby whispered to Belle. Belle nodded, "Yes, the singing is fine, his performance seems….flat though."

They could see Regina was confused too, he forgot to give her a hand to help her out of the boat, so she had to get up out of the boat very unceremoniously by herself. For a short moment you could see anger flicker in her eyes as she continued singing. "O, Regina is pissed off." David whispered to Daniel.

However as the song continued it seemed as if the Phantom found his way on the stage and as the song continued everyone stopped thinking and was taking in the amazing performance.

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Regina was boiling mad as she climbed out the boat herself trying not to get behind on the music. What was he doing? It's not like they hadn't practiced this, it seemed as if he didn't know what to do anymore, as if it was someone else. His voice did sound like him however, so she tried to focus on her own part and continued singing. However throughout the entire performance she couldn't help but think something was off, it ruined their performance, it ruined _her_ performance. O she was so mad, it was a good thing there wasn't any magic here because else she was sure her eyes would be glowing purple by now. This was her favorite song, she had worked so long to perfection this performance, to sing the notes as they should be sung, and now this man was ruining everything. She would make him pay for this, she thought, she would pull his mask of in the end, to the audience it would seem as part of the performance, but to him, it would come as a shock, it would make him feel as she felt now, she hoped. With that in her mind she continued to focus on the song.

.

.

As Regina started to belt the high notes that would end the song she slowly turned towards the man instead of facing the audience as she was supposed to. And just as she was belting the last high note she pulled the mask of his face in one smooth move. However, that face that was underneath the mask was in no way what she'd expected. She let out a small gasp, her eyes wide with fear as she felt how her legs weakened and blackness took over.

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The audience gasped as they saw Regina faint. "O my god that's Gold!" Emma exclaimed as she jumped up from her chair.

For a moment Rumplestiltskin watched bewildered to the reaction the audience gave to Regina's fainting. Emma pointing at him from the front row snapped him back to his senses however. Quickly he picked Regina up and left with her back stage.

"Cora never came with us." Daniel stated. "It was Rumpelstiltskin in her form all the time."

"But how, how can he use magic outside Storybrooke?" Ashley asked.

"That doesn't matter now." Henry said. "What matters is that we have to save my mom. We have to go after him, now! If he has magic he can teleport both of them to Storybrooke in no time, we have to get there before he does that."

Daniel nodded. "He's right. Come on." And he started to make his way past the people to get to the back stage door.

"Daniel wait!" Belle said. "We can better go outside and go the backstage door there. Rumplestiltskin is never going to use magic in here, the risk that someone would see is to high. He'll probably go outside where there's no one at this moment."

"You're right." Ruby said. "Let's go."

* * *

As they reached the backstage door they saw that Belle was indeed right.

Daniel wanted to round the corner and walk to Regina who was held by Rumpelstiltskin iron grip, but Ruby prevented him from doing so. "No." She whispered. "We're first going to observe what he's doing. Now we still have the advantage."

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"Let me go!" Regina screamed as Rumplestiltskin pushed her to the ground.

"No one's going to hear you dearie. I have put everyone in an artificial sleep for the next half hour. No one can rescue you now." He said as he was towering above her.

"You're lying." She spat. "You can't use magic outside Storybrooke."

"Oh yes I can, dearie." the imp said. "This necklace makes me able to do so." And to proove it to her he summoned a little fireball in his hand.

"How did you even get in here? I didn't see you around before." Regina said, trying to look unimpressed.

"Well, let's just say that my partner in crime, also known as your dear mother, never made it to New York." The man smiled deviously.

Regina's eyes widened. "My mother helped you? You took the form of my mother?" She asked, unable to hide the fear in her voice now.´

"O don't look so surprised dearie. You didn't really think your mommy loved you? That she had changed? That she would allow you and that stable boy of yours to be together for now? O no she was all too happy when I asked her to join forces with me. However, she thought I would be hurting the boy, where my plan was and is to hurt you." Rumplestiltskin lied, he brought his face close to hers. "You belong to me, dearie. You're mine. And I will never forgive you for how you drove my son and grandson away from me. You're going to pay for that dearly."

"I didn't drive Collin or your son away, Rumple!" She screamed. "That was your own doing! You should have learned by now that you should be honest with people, but you weren't and so you proved to your son once again that you're only out for your own winning and nothing else!"

Rumplestiltskin's eyes flashed fire as he slapped her in the face. A whimper escaped Regina's lips as she felt her skin burning where he'd touched her. "But dearie, sometimes lying to your children is what you have to do. Sometimes that's what's best for them, and you _always_ have to do what's best for your children. And that is why you're going to stop protesting now, and work with me and you are going to come with me as an obedient girl."

"O, what makes you think that?" She asked through tears.

"Oh well..nothing but the fact that our dear little Snow is desperately searching for your lovely daughter at this moment. She might have found her already, she's in my pawn shop you see. But she can't get to her, for I've put a barrier around the child. I'm keeping her in an artificial sleep and if you don't do what I say, if you don't obey my every order, I'll make sure that your child will be very soon gone. So you'll feel what you made me feel."

Regina let out a cry of frustration. "Okay. Okay." She sobbed. "I'll go with you."

"Good girl." The sorcerer laughed. "Now take my hand so I can bring us back to Storybrooke."

Slowly Regina put her hand in the imp's hand. But just as the man started to perform the spell Emma came from their hiding place running towards the two.  
"You're not taking her _anywhere_!" She shouted as she tried to attack the Dark One by forcing her entire body weight against him. However she failed, she was too late, Rumplestiltskin had already performed the spell and all Emma felt was a short moment in which her hand touched the imp's body, after which it was suddenly gone. They were both gone, however Emma felt she was still holding something in her hand. When she opened it she saw a necklace with a blue pendant, she'd accidentally ripped it off the imp's neck in their struggle.

"No!" Daniel screamed as he ran over to Emma. "We're too late! We're never going to be back in time."

Emma turned around to Daniel and the rest of the group. "O, I wouldn't be so sure of that." She said with a sparkle in her eyes. "Look what I just stole from the man." And she showed them all the necklace.

**Dum dum duuuuummmmmm**

**Thank you all so much for your kind reviews, welcome new followers and thanks for the song suggestions as well **** I hope you all like which songs I've chosen!**

**As always I'll reread this tomorrow on spelling and grammar mistakes **

**Please R&R**

**x**

**Metope**


	27. Chapter 26

**Trust me**  
Snow was sitting on the couch in Regina's mansion, bow and arrow in her hands, ready to shoot if necessary. She didn't like to admit it but she was afraid, she started to think their plan over, doubting again whether it had been a good thing to split up.

"_That's him." Cora said as soon as the man with the mask entered the stage._

"_What do you mean?" Blue asked confused._

"_That man is not one of the actors. It's Rumplestiltskin. I can see it in the way he moves. I've known him long enough to recognize him everywhere in every form. Besides, he's not following the choreography. Look at Regina, she's mad at him for ruining the song." Cora said in a calm voice, but her eyes betrayed the fear she felt._

_They closely followed the performance, and as Regina pulled of the mask of the man's face Cora's suspicions were confirmed. Blue gasped as they watched how Rumpelstiltskin left the stage with the unconscious Regina in his arms._

_Cora grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. She stood up from the couch and turned towards the two women still sitting on the couch. "Ok. There are three places he can take her too. He will most definitely bring her back to Storybrooke, he can take her to her house, the mansion. He can take her to the well or he takes her to his shop where Violet is too. So that means we have to split up, as soon as one of us sees them she has to warn the others. It's most likely he'll go to the well, where our magic is the strongest, or to his shop. Therefore, Snow, you go to Regina's house, since you're the most vulnerable having no magic. Blue, you cover the well and I will go to the shop and Leroy, who's still there with Violet." Cora said._

_Blue and Snow agreed to everything Cora said without protesting, now was not the time, they both knew. "How will we let each other know where she is?" Snow asked. "I mean, I'm sure you two can communicate with each other by some sort of magic, but I can't."_

"_Here." Blue handed Snow a small satchel. "If you throw what's inside there on the ground Cora and I will immediately be summoned to where you are. If Gold turns out to show up at either the well or the pawn shop we'll be able to get you to us because of that same satchel."_

_Snow nodded. "Okay. Then let's go. There is no time to lose."_

And now she was sitting here, waiting for something to happen, but secretly hoping that wouldn't be the case. However suddenly she felt a strong wave of nausea running through her body and suddenly the walls of Regina's living room changed into trees and leafs…

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

One moment Regina saw Emma running towards them and she thought she'd been saved, however, the next she saw nothing but trees and the familiar well of Storybrooke.

She realized she was still holding Gold's hand and quickly jerked her hand away setting a step away from the man. "I don't see my daughter." Regina stated, her voice hoarse because of hold back tears.

"How observant of you, dearie. I can confirm, she isn't here indeed. As I said she's at my shop. I have great plans for her. The purple in her eyes hasn't gone unnoticed. That girl can do so much. As much as you could, and maybe even beyond, I dare say."

Regina swallowed. "You – You promised you wouldn't hurt her… you said that if I'd go with you.."

"I _said_ that if you would go with me and would work with me, I wouldn't _kill_ her. I've said nothing about a reunion." The imp now said in a more aggressive voice.

Regina let out a desperate sigh. "What do you _want_ then. I don't understand any of this."

"I want to help you. You can do so much, dearie. You're so strong, you have all this magic inside of you but you don't do anything with it. It's such a waste. All you have to do is start using magic again, I know you still have it in you, you're just a little rusty. You could be so much. And as I said, I'm willing to help you. We'll do it together. Together we can take your _mother _down." The imp smiled as he saw the confusion in the girls eyes. She was just as naïve as the girl he had corrupted so many years ago.

"My mother..?" she asked in a small voice and then she shook her head. "No. I don't believe you. If you really wanted to help me you could have just asked. This whole kidnapping thing wouldn't have been necessary." She said, a renewed fire in her eyes. "What is it you _really_ want?"

Gold growled annoyed. "Like I said. I want to bring Cora down, and I want you to join me in that noble quest."

"Why can't you do it yourself? What do you need me for?" Regina asked.

"Because, as you well know, dearie. Your dear mother is the only one who has over managed to defeat me, to break a deal she'd struck with me. I've taught her everything I know, she is as strong as I am, I need you so we can be stronger than her." The imp answered.

"And again, why couldn't you just have asked me this? Why did you have to kidnap my daughter for this and did you have to in fact kidnap _me_ too?" Regina asked trying to sound unimpressed.

"Because I had to let Cora think I was working with her of course. I had to act like I was going there to break you and Daniel apart. And I don't want to get rid of Cora like you did the last time, when she still could return, no this time we have to make sure she cannot come back again. And I need you to use magic again to do so."

"No." Was all Regina said, her voice firm.

"Well there you have it. That's why I have your daughter, you _are_ going to use magic dearie. If not, harm will come to your dear little girl."

"But I don't want to use magic anymore." She now whispered. "I can't."

"You'll have to, dearie. Otherwise we cannot stop Cora."

But Regina shook her head. "No. It will turn me dark again." _And that's exactly what I want to happen, dearie. Once that happens there will be no way back for you, I'll help the Charmings bring you down, and I'll have my revenge on both you and Cora_. The imp thought. "No that won't happen. I assure you." He said instead.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because, unlike the last time. Once you've gotten rid of your mother, there won't be anyone else in your life to hurt you. You can be happy. There won't be an obnoxious stepdaughter reminding you of anything, no abuse husband, none of it. You'll finally be happy."

Regina seemed to ponder this offer for just a second, but then shook her head again. "No." She sat in a more firm voice. "I'm not going to use magic. I'm willing to help you to get rid of my mother. But I will _not_ use magic."

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head as he slowly walked around her, forcing her to walk with him if she wanted to keep facing him. "I'm sorry dearie, but I'm afraid you don't quite understand the situation. In fact, there is nothing for you to demand. You either do as I say and you'll be freed from your demanding mother and will have your daughter back and will live your happily ever after with your stable boy, or you _don't_, which means I'll have to kill you too and your daughter will end up the same...The choice is yours dearie…"

The brunette took in a deep breath. "And if I use magic, you promise I'll have Violet back? In one piece. In perfect health. Happy, un-traumatized, just as she was?"

The imp nodded. "Yes, that's the deal. You help me to bring Cora down and in return you will get your daughter back."

"Ok. I'll do it then." Regina breathed and she shook the imp's hand to officially seal their deal.

"Now let's see what you can still do." The imp said and he threw a small fireball her way.

Regina's eyes went wide as she saw the ball coming her way, she just jumped away with a little scream, just before the ball would hit her. "What the hell are you doing?!" She cried out.

"I could ask you the same, Dearie. Blocking that fireball isn't hard at all, _anyone_ can do that at their first try. You aren't mocking me, now are you?"

"I'm not, I just didn't know what to do." Regina said trying to sound sincere; in fact, she hadn't tried to block the magic at all. She figured that, if she could make Gold believe that she couldn't do magic anymore, maybe he would leave her alone. Maybe he would see her as useless and she wouldn't have to use magic at all. There were plenty of other ways she could help him to get Cora out of town that didn't require magic, she would just do that.

"Well, let's try again then." And immediately the imp threw another fire ball away which Regina avoided once again just in time, and another one and another one.

"This is clearly not working Gold!" She yelled angrily at him, getting tired from all the magic spells she had to avoid.

"Well maybe the threat should be bigger then." The imp said in a wicked smile and with that he waved his hands and Regina felt how tree branches wrapped themselves around her arms and legs and lifted her a little in to the air.

"Let me go!" She yelled furiously at him.

But the imp shook his head as he summoned a new ball of fire in his hand. "Now you'll _have_ to use magic to protect yourself, otherwise you'll get extremely hurt." He said.

"But I _can't_!" She yelled at him. "Why do you need me to use magic so badly? I can help you get Cora out of town without magic just as easily!"

"O sure I can get her out of town, dearie. I could do that by myself. To get her _killed_ however, for _that_ I'll need your magic too."

Regina eyes went wide. "What? Killed? I- I- You cannot _kill_ her!" She then exclaimed in a desperate voice.

"And why is that dearie? Because you _love_ her?" The imp said with an evil grin.

Regina didn't answer. What had she gotten herself into? She'd apparently struck a deal with the man to get her mother killed. Bring Cora down, he had said, in a way she'll never come back. She had automatically assumed he wanted to have her out her town and stripped from her powers or something. Everything but not this.

"It's time you stop being so naïf Regina." The imp now spat at her. "Your mother doesn't _love_ you. So stop asking for it! You're nothing but a tool to her, first you were a queen and now you're a celebrity, you give her fame and status. She wants you all for herself. Don't you see it? She allowed me to go to you to get rid of Daniel, knowing in how much danger you all _could_ be if I had really done as she'd asked. Don't you want her to pay for that? Don't you want her to pay for that and for everything else she's done to you. All those times she abused you as a child, how she killed Daniel in front of you, how she manipulated everyone around you? How she forced you into a loveless marriage? Don't you see death isn't even a punishment severe enough?"

"I don't _know_…" Regina whispered, tears silently falling down her face. "But you cannot kill her…you just can't…"

"She doesn't love you Regina! Get it through your head!" The imp now yelled at her.

"Shut up!" Regina now screamed. "I know that! I know, I know, I know! But knowing doesn't make it any easier!"

"Well maybe this does." The imp now said in a low voice as he summoned a ball of magic again, ready to throw it her way.

"Don't you _dare_ to attack her with that." A voice suddenly came from behind him, and as he turned around he saw Cora walking towards him, followed by Leroy, Snow White and the Blue fairy. Cora immediately threw a fire ball his way, which he blocked successfully. However, the sudden distraction caused him to lose his focus on Regina and the trees that were holding her up now released her and she fell to the ground.

"Cora, what brings you here? And how?" He said while he turned around to watch the four of them.

The older witch ignored him however, looking directly at Regina. "Regina, sweetheart. You have to believe me if I tell you I _do _love you. And I –"

"I don't want to hear it, mother." Regina interrupted Cora. "I don't believe you. You've said that every time, and I believed you time and time again, and then you've proven me wrong as you always do. Just as I start to think you actually care about me you do something as awful as try to rip away what I love in this life."

"No, Regina you have to believe me." Cora said, desperation in her voice.

But her daughter shook her head. "No. You're lying. I don't believe you. You tried to break me and Daniel apart, again! You sent Rumpelstiltskin to us to do so!"

"That's not what happened, Regina." Blue now said.

"What do _you_ know." Regina spat. "Where were you anyways, all those time I desperately called for you when I was young? You _never_ came."

"Regina, you have to listen to us." Snow now tried, knowing that Blue in fact wasn't really in the position to lecture Regina. "Cora didn't want to break you and Daniel apart. Rumpelstiltskin has her heart, he made her do it."

"It's true Regina." Cora now said as she saw the confused look on the girl's face. "He has my heart, therefore I decided to work along. For I thought I could still try to interfere with his plans as long as I controlled my own body."

"And Cora didn't sent Rumpelstiltskin after you either. "Snow added.

"Regina please, believe me I – " But Cora couldn't continue as she bend over in pain, grasping at her chest as if someone was squeezing her heart, Regina realized.

Quickly she turned her gaze to her former master to see him indeed squeezing a heart. "Stop it!" She screamed in panic, but the imp continued to squeeze the heart until suddenly his eyes went wide and he stopped immediately, staring at Cora with fear clearly written on his face.

"How did you – "

"- find this?" Cora asked as she slowly straightened herself again and nonchalantly held a dagger with the imp's name written on it in her hand.

"Simple. We left Leroy at your shop to watch over Violet as soon as we found out where you were keeping her, and he just, _stumbled_ upon this. So when I arrived at your shop to check whether you were there he gave it to me. So I guess you could say we're stuck in an impasse now. You control me, I control you. You squeeze, I command you to stop right away."

"I- I don't understand…" Regina now whispered. "If you had her heart all along, then why didn't you kill her already? That's not what you really want…why is it you want me to use magic so desperately?"

Rumplestilstkin now focused his attention back on Regina again. "Because, dearie. "He hissed. "The moment you'll use magic again, the darkness of that magic will take you over again. And once that happens, I will have my ultimate revenge. Because no one will ever give a second chance to the evil queen who killed her own mother, everyone will turn on you and eventually you too shall lose everything, just like I did. So stop with the theatrics and use your _magic_!" the imp yelled at her as he once again let tree branches hold her to her place and summoned a blue ball of magic and threw it her way.

Cora let out a scream of shock and Blue gasped as they both recognized the magic as a death spell. Quickly Cora whispered a spell to teleport herself in front of her daughter, ignoring the pain running through her body as the imp had started to squeeze her heart again. And just before the ball would hit Regina, who was desperately trying to summon some kind of protection shield, but now found she didn't know how to access her magic for real, Cora showed up in front of her daughter and the spell hit the older witch right in her chest. Regina let out a scream of shock as she saw her mother falling to the ground with a sigh, eyes closed, and chest still.

"Well, that was incredibly stupid of her to do, maybe she did love you after all." The imp remarked dryly as he wiped a spell Blue had tried to throw at him away as if it was nothing.

And that was it for Regina. She felt how rage was building inside of her, guiding her to her magic again. "What have you _done_!" she roared. "I HATE you!" She screamed and as she looked back up from her mother to the imp, Gold felt slightly taken aback by the bright purple color her eyes had become, he heard Snow and Blue gasp behind him.

In one smooth move Regina freed herself by magic from the branches that had been holding her and set a step in the imp's direction. "You _killed_ my MOTHER! You didn't have the right to do that!" She screamed and slowly a strong wind started to blow as dark clouds gathered above them, the thunder that came from it shaking the earth they were standing on.

Gold started to summon a new fire ball but with one flick of her wrist Regina had slammed him against one of the trees. "You're no match to _me_, little man." She sneered.

"Regina…" Snow started in a small voice "calm down please...this is not good."

"Shut up Snow! You know what is not good? That twisted little imp there, _he_ is 'not good'!" She roared, as a purple glow was now radiating from her entire body. "And you _WILL_ pay for this!" She screamed as she finally released the energy she had been holding back and sent it all towards the man that had ruined her life.

**Dum dum duuummm cliffhanger all the way! What do you think ****? Please R&R, I always get very happy from reading all your reviews ****!**

**And on a side note, for those who also follow my other fanfiction: a silhouette of you, I promised I would update soon, but you're waiting for a while now, I'm sorry, I promise I'll try to update tomorrow ****.**

**X**

**Metope**


	28. Chapter 27

**Who are you?**

"You can use that to send us back to Storybrooke!" Henry exclaimed happily as he saw the pendant his mother was holding in his hand.

Emma frowned as she leaned against the wall of the theatre. "Well..I guess yes. If I knew _how_, that is."

"From what I've seen, it's about concentrating on what you want to happen." Henry sr. now remarked as he and the rest of the group joined Emma and Daniel.

"You have to try it, Emma! We have to rescue my mom!" Henry said nervously.

"But what if something goes wrong?" Ashley asked. "All magic comes with a prize, after all."

"Well the prize is that I have to use magic again." Emma said. "I haven't used it since I helped Cora and Rumplestiltskin break the barrier spell, and that was for a reason. That magic, it's deadly addictive. Once you feel what possibilities magic gives you...it's just really hard to stop then. I can fully understand why Regina couldn't give it up and decided to cross the border. And I can't imagine how hard it must have been for Cora to stop using magic so often. So the prize of me sending us back to Storybrooke is that you all have to help me to stay away from using it afterwards.." Emma sighed.

"Don't worry." Ruby said as she put a hand on Emma's shoulder. "We'll make sure you won't get addicted to it."

Emma smiled. "Thanks Rubes. Well then let's get on with it. Everyone give each other a hand."

"Wait a second, Emma." Granny now interfered. "What's our plan once we get there? You're planning on just running towards them and knock Gold over?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know. I figured I'd just first get us back to Storybrooke and we'll see from there?"

"With Rumplestiltskin there is no 'seeing from there'." Granny stated. "We have to come up with at least some sort of plan first."

"Well, how about, we first decide where in Storybrooke Emma will take us? and try to guess where Gold probably will have taken my mom to" Henry jr. asked.

"I think Rumplestiltskin is taking Regina to his shop, because he said Violet was there too." Daniel said.

"And I think it is best as you focus on bringing us to the well in the forest, Emma." Belle now said. "Rumple always said magic is the strongest there, so it will be easier for you to get us there."

"That's a good idea." David now said. "From there I can go get my sword from home, we can search for Snow and maybe get the Blue fairy and then..."

"...we can go find my daughter." Henry finished.

"Ok." Emma said. "That's settled then. Now hold hands as I said and David, you hold tight on to me." David did as Emma said and took the hand of his daughter firmly in his right hand, holding Belle's hand in the left.

Slowly Emma put on the necklace with her free hand and hold on to the pendant as if it would be easier that way to do the trick.

"Ok." She breathed. "Let's do this.." However her concentration broke because of Ruby giggling.

"Gee, Ruby, what the hell?" Emma asked annoyed.

"I'm sorry Emma." The brunette laughed. "It's just, your face is so serious all the sudden, it's just not you."

"Yes, well. I want this to go right okay? So that we won't have someone without his leg when we get in Storybrooke, like in Harry Potter, you know?"

"I'm sorry Emma." Ruby now said as she straightened her face. "I'll be quite."

"Good." Emma said with a frown as she closed her eyes again.

She pictured the well of Storybrooke, she pictured all of them standing there, the leafs on the ground, the wind blowing, the warm summer wind that now normally greeted the town. And suddenly she felt herself get nauseous as a strange sensation went through her body, and when she opened her eyes again she saw they were all standing at the well. However what they saw was nothing what they had expected.

Cora was lying on the ground, appearing to be not very much alive judging by the pale skin of the woman and the fact that a furious purple glowing Regina was screaming at Rumplestiltskin about the fact that he had killed her mother and would pay for it. A few steps away from the imp were Snow, Leroy and the Blue Fairy standing. Snow was trying to calm Regina down but that caused her to get a furious 'shut up snow' from Regina.

Suddenly Emma felt herself being pulled behind a couple of bushes, she looked confused to her right she saw it was David who was already hiding with the rest of the group.

"This does not seem like the right moment to bluntly interfere." He whispered to her.

Emma nodded, it was better to first take in the situation that was taking place in front of them before they would do something.

"I have never seen her like this." Henry sr. whispered. "Not even when she had a tantrum while she was the Evil Queen, and those could be horrible."

"Holy sh—ew-eep." Emma exclaimed as she saw how Regina fired an enormous bold of purple energy to the imp, realizing Henry was here too so she should watch her language.

"Emma, look what Cora has in her hands." Henry now whispered.

"A dagger." Emma stated. "Which clearly hasn't been of much use to her."

"No.." Belle now said. "Thats _the _dagger. The dagger that controls the Dark One."

"Then why doesn't she kill him with it?" Ruby asked.

"Because if my mom does that, then _she_ becomes the Dark One." Henry answered.

"But that means he can't be killed unless someone is willing to become the next Dark One?" Daniel now asked.

Henry nodded. "Yes."

"What the hell is that girl doing then? She can't beat him." Granny asked worry in her voice.

And they all watched how Regina fired spell after spell towards the imp and how he fielded every single one of her attacks. The girl was growing increasingly frustrated as the imp was just laughing and Leroy, Snow and Blue were watching, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly she stopped attacking him, breathing heavily she walked towards Cora never averting her eyes from his gaze.

"O, you're going to try to kill me, dearie?" the imp asked amused as he saw her grab the dagger from Cora's hands.

Regina ignored him as she now walked towards Snow. As soon as she was in Snow's reach she grabbed Regina's arms. "Regina. You have to calm down." She said looking at the still purple coloured irises of the girl. "You can't kill him. You'll kill yourself at this rate. You're doing exactly what he wants. Don't let hatred consume you. Not again." desperation was now clearly audible through the woman's voice.

"Don't waste your time, Snow." Rumplestiltskin called at them. "It's done already. She's used enough magic to be addicted again. I'm just letting her play for a little longer."

Regina, who was still ignoring the imp, looked in Snow's eyes. "I know.." she whispered.

"You just have to hold the dagger and command him to do nothing while I attack him." With that she walked away from Snow.

"Wait, Regina! What?" Snow yelled confused.

"Just do as I said, Snow. Trust me." She said without looking back as she positioned herself facing the Dark One again.

"Didn't dare to kill me after all, dearie?" the imp teased as he watched the exhausted girl, her heavily heaving chest.

Regina just shook her head. "I'm so done with you." She growled.

"Show me." The man said teasingly as he watched the girl in front of him rise her arms en summon a bright ball of blue magic this time. Recognizing the magic for what it was the imp quickly prepared a counter spell but his eyes grew wide as he found out he couldn't move.

"Snow White! Let go of that dagger!" He screamed furiously as he realized he was being controlled by the woman with the pixie haircut. "She's going to kill us all Miss Blanchard!"

But Snow shook her head, Blue had told her what spell Regina was currently conjuring and that no matter what she had to keep control over Rumplestiltskin the entire time.

The Dark One opened his mouth to say something else but got interrupted because Regina had finally released the energy she had been gathering with a loud scream and directed towards him.

Everyone watched in awe as the blue beam of light seemed to wrap itself around the imp, hiding him from view. A large explosion followed and suddenly the light was gone. Leaving the imp on his knees on the ground looking at his hands. He snapped his fingers a few times but nothing happened.

"You – you may be the dark one." Regina breathed. "And I may not be able to kill you, but I do was able to strip you from your powers...so – so you won't be able to hurt anyone with your magic anymore." And with that she walked over to the imp and got her mother's heart from him after which she walked over to Cora and slowly put the heart back in the older woman's chest. And then the girl finally broke don.

Heavy sobs shook her body as she fell to her knees and lied down close to her mother, hugging the woman's body, as she was completely unaware of the things that unravel around her.

Emma, David and the rest now made their presence known. David and Leroy quickly walked towards Rumplestiltskin and took the man who had now been magically handcuffed by Bue away. Red put an arm around Belle who clearly was having a hard time seeing the man she once loved taken away in this state. Snow, Ashley and Granny decided to go to Gold's pawn shop to get Violet, since the spells that were cast upon her should be broken now Gold doesn't have magic anymore. And both Henries and Daniel, they just stood there, watching Regina cry over her mother's death body.

Daniel was the first that tries to calm Regina down. He bent down to her and put an hand on her arm whispering to her that it's over now, that she'd been incredibly brave. But Regina didn't react, she didn't even give a sign that she even knew he was present. She just cried, incidentally talking to Cora through her sobs, while she'd still wrapped her arms around the woman's waste.

"Regina... Regina!" Daniel now said more firmly but she still didn't acknowledge his presence.

"Maybe you should just let her cry for a while, Daniel." Snow said who had come back with a smiling Violet in her arms.

"But look at her." Daniel said with sad eyes as he walks towards Snow and takes Violet over from her. "She's completely broken. I can't stand seeing her like this."

"I don't understand. Why is my mom so broken like this." Henry whispered. "Cora did all of this to herself after all."

"No, Henry." Snow said calmly. "Gold had Cora's heart. He used her. She had nothing to do with all of this. Not willingly that is, all she ever tried was to protect Regina, Daniel, Violet and all of us from that man."

"What happened to Cora?" Henry sr now asked.

"Rumplestiltskin had Cora locked up in his basement so he could go as her to New York. However Cora managed to break free with my help. Then we saw how Regina got kidnapped by Rumplestiltskin on the television so we figured he could take her either to the well, his shop or Regina's house and we split up. In the meanwhile Leroy had stayed behind in the shop with Violet and had been searching for the dagger. When Cora arrived he had just found it so he handed it over, not long after, Blue summoned us because she had found Rumple and Regina at the well. We didn't go right to them because we first decided to overhear what they were saying as they seemed to be having an argument. Gold lured Regina into a deal to kill Cora. He told her it had been Cora who had tried to break Daniel and her up and that he wanted to bring her down, if she wouldn't help him he would kill Violet. Regina thought he meant to send her out of town so eventually she agreed, although she was afraid using magic would turn her dark again. However Gold meant to kill her. She refused to do so and then he started to yell at her that Cora didn't love Regina, that she had to stop believing Cora did. That she meant nothing to Cora. He demanded she would use magic so they could kill her. She started to believe him, so we decided to interfere. Cora told Regina about how Gold had her heart and that she did love Regina. And then Rumplestiltskin threw a death spell Regina's way, Regina couldn't do anything to protect herself, and so Cora threw herself in front of Regina and got hit by the spell. When Regina saw that...something broke inside her, her eyes got purple and she.."

"..got all crazy." Henry jr. now finished as he leaned in to Daniel who put his arm around the boy, still holding Violet up on his other arm. The little girl had no idea what was going on, she was just babbling happily to see her father again.

"Yeah." Snow said in a nervous laugh at Henry's choice of words.

Then the four of them turned their gaze back to the girl that was crying on the ground a few meters away from them.

Suddenly Regina went to sit up while her eyes focused on the woman's face. "I'm so sorry mother." She whispered, silent tears now streaming down her face. "I – I love you. I love you so very much. And I couldn't say it, and now I finally can but you cannot hear it anymore. I'm so sorry you had to die for me. I should have trusted you from the beginning." She sobbed. Regina let out a deep shaky breath and then brought her lips towards her mother's forehead. "I love you, mama." she whispered and softly pressed a kiss to her mother's forehead.

The moment Regina's lips touched Cora a white light radiated from the two and spread through the forest. Cora's eyes fluttered open as she took in a heavy breath. Regina quickly sat up eyes round with shock as she looked at her mother suddenly being very much alive again.

"O Regina." Cora whispered as she pressed herself to sit up and pulled her daughter in a hug. Slowly rocking her daughter who was now crying once again. As Regina had calmed down a little the two women helped each other up and Regina's face lit up as she saw everyone she loved standing there. But she was happy to see one person in particular.

"Violet!" She exclaimed as she ran to her daughter and Daniel handed their daughter over to her as he pressed a kiss to Regina's head. Regina hugged her daughter as tight as possible without choking the child, as she leaned in to Daniel. When she saw Henry awkwardly standing, watching the three she pulled him into the hug too. Cora walked up to Snow and Henry with a smile. "Cora, I'm genuinely glad you're back." Snow said as she gave the woman a friendly hug. Cora smiled as she returned the hug. "Thank you dear Snow." She answered.

She then turned to watch Henry who first just stood there watching the mother of his daughter standing in front of him, not knowing what to do.

Cora opened her mouth to say something but got silenced as Henry suddenly pulled her towards him and kissed her, first it seemed as if she would pull away, but eventually she leaned in to him. She didn't want to admit it but she had missed him, at first she had been desperate to get him out of her house, but as the months flew by she had grown rather fond of his company again.

Snow let out a soft gasp at Henry's action and she quickly averted her gaze. Her eyes fell on Regina who was watching her parents as she had one arm wrapped around Henry while Violet was now slumbering against her chest and Daniel's arms were wrapped around her. The girl's face was divided in one big smile. She finally got the family she had always wanted, Snow thought with a smile.

The sound of someone clearing his throat was now audible behind them and as they all turned around to see who it was they saw Emma standing there. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, I guess. But we were kind of wondering where you all were and we have to do something with Gold."

"We're coming, Emma." Regina said with a laugh as she handed Violet back over to Daniel and started to walk towards Emma. "She got held back by a hand pulling her arm."

"Regina." Her father said as she turned around. "Are you okay?"

Regina nodded, a smile on her face. "Yes, daddy. I feel fine." But Henry didn't let go of her arm.

"Are you sure? You- you really scared us, Regina. I- I've never seen you like that."

Regina looked at her father with confusion in her eyes.

"You've lost a lot of energy when you did that to Rumplestiltskin, Regina. You threw practically everything you had in you his way, or so it seemed." Daniel joined Henry.

"I don't understand? What are you talking about? I haven't used magic?" Regina asked confused.

"Uh, _yes_ you did. You were all miss crazy sorceress." Emma now said as she walked back to Regina.

"You don't remember, mom?" Henry now asked.

"I remember- I remember coming here and then..." and Regina's voice trailed off as she frowned trying to remember what had happened next.

"It's okay, Regina." Cora said as she put a hand on Regina's arm. "It's not important. What's important is that we're all together now. Now, let's go with Emma."

Regina nodded as she joined Henry, Snow and Emma who started walking again.

"Why can't she remember, Cora?" Daniel asked confused.

"She couldn't deal with it." Cora answers. "She is suppressing the events. She's too afraid of them, she's too afraid about what will happen to her now she's used magic again. So she's made herself believe that it didn't happen."

"_Will_ something happen to her, now she's used magic again?" Henry now asked. "It was nothing like I've ever seen before Cora. Her whole body was radiating a purple glow, her eyes were purple too."

Cora shook her head. "I don't know Henry. She won't become the evil queen again though, if that's what you mean. We'll just have to help her to not use magic again, that's all. What I'm more worried of is what those attacks on Rumplestiltskin have cost her physically and mentally. Magic always comes with a prize, and she hasn't used magic in a very long time."

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The next morning they all woke up late. The night before they had locked Gold up in the sheriff's station and without magic no one had to worry for him breaking free so they could all be there. Now they were all at Regina's house for a brunch together. Regina seemed to be fine, although she still refused to talk, or in fact to remember, any of the events of the night before, the magic she had used didn't seem to affect her.

"Well, I think that I speak for everyone here when I say that I really hope things will be _normal_ for a while now." Emma said, and immediately after that Violet, who was sitting with Cora, babbled something that sounded as if the young girl wholeheartedly agreed with Emma.

"Violet thinks so too." Snow laughed.

Regina stoop up. "I'll start clear the table." She said as she took a couple of plates in her hands and started walking to the kitchen.

"I'll help you in a minute." Cora said. "First I have to find a volunteer to take care of this little girl here. "

The entire table raised its hand to 'volunteer' and just as a heavy discussion started between Snow and Henry sr. about who should have her they heard a shriek come from the kitchen and the loud clatter of plates falling to the ground.

Quickly Cora stood up handing Violet over to Ruby -who smiled triumphantly – and walked towards the kitchen followed by Daniel and Emma.

In the kitchen Regina was pressed in one of the corners of the kitchen, her face white as is she was seeing a ghost.

"Regina what's wrong?" Emma asked.

"Ma- make it go away." Regina whispered. "Don't you see them?" She asked as she saw the confused looks of the three people.

Then she suddenly crouched down as she folder her hands over her head and let out a whimper of fear. "Make it go away. They don't go away!"

"What are you seeing, Regina." Cora asked in a worried tone.

"Creatures. White ones, grey ones, with teeth. They're laughing at me. They're making my head hurt."

Daniel now walked past Cora and Emma and bend down next to Regina as soon as he touched her she jerked away. "Don't do that!" She yelled, her eyes were bewilderedly looking at Daniel. "Who are you?" She then asked. He stood up again. "You can bake an egg on her forehead and she's delirious." He said to Cora.

Cora nodded. "The magic is taking its prize. We just have to let her body deal with this, but we have to get her to the hospital so we can get a hold of the fever."

"Well good luck with that." Emma stated. "if even Daniel can't touch her then who can?"

"Is everything alright?" Snow asked as she joined the three. "O dear.." She then gasped as she saw the brunette sitting on the ground in the kitchen.

"She has to go to the hospital. She has a very high fever and she's hallucinating because of it. She's seeing ghost creatures or something" Emma said. "She didn't recognize Daniel and we can't touch her."

"Let me try." Snow said and she walked past them and bent down to Regina's level. "Regina, look at me." Two big brown orbs filled with fear stared at Snow. "Do you want the creatures to go away?"

Regina nodded as if she was only five years old instead of twenty.

"Well then give me your hand and I'll take you to a place where they'll make them go away. Ok?"

Regina nodded again her brown eyes still wide. "Yes madam." She answered and she laid he hand in Snow's, stood up and left the kitchen after Snow.

"Get her coat." Was all Snow said to Cora as she passed Cora.

Henry stood up from his chair as soon as Snow and Regina left the kitchen. "Mom are you alright?"

Regina looked at him with wide eyes and she hid behind Snow as soon as he said a step in her direction. "Go away." She whispered.

Henry looked confused at Snow. "What's wrong with her."

"Regina has a very high fever, Henry. And she's hallucinating because of it."

"How? She was fine just now?" Henry asked.

"It has been slumbering all this time." Cora said. "It was more curious that she _didn't_ show any signs than that she now does actually."

"Poor girl." Granny said, this caused Regina to look at the other people sitting at the table. They were all staring at her, except for Violet who was happily playing with a napkin on Ruby's lap.

Suddenly Regina started to scream as she pointed at her daughter. "They are taking her! They are at her head, do something!" She screamed as she back away from Snow White and continued walking backwards until she was met with the wall.

"Regina, calm down." Snow started but the brunette continued to scream, causing Violet to start crying.

"Cora! Can't you like calm her down or something with a spell or something? And Ruby get the kid away from here!"

Ruby quickly stood up and took the crying child with her to Regina's living room. Cora walk towards Regina who was now silently crying on the ground, hands wrapped around her legs.

"Ok. Regina, come on." Snow said to the girl. "You're going with us again okay?"

"Nah-uh." Regina shook her head, which earned her the confused looks of her father, Belle, David and Granny who were still sitting at the table.

"And why is that?" Snow asked as she bent down again to be at Regina's level.

"Because I don't feel so g- " the brunette started but halfway her sentence her eyes turned up and Snow quickly caught a now unconscious Regina. "O my god, her temperature has to go down now, her fever is much too high." Snow exclaimed worried as she felt Regina's burning skin under her hands.

"Well, so much for a normal day." Emma sighed as she got her coat.

**Not just done with the drama yet...besides it would be weird if Regina wouldn't have any problems after using so much magic...all magic comes with a prize after all..:)**

**Please read and review! And tell me...what kind of wedding dress will Regina be wearing? Colour, style, hair do, hair up or down, veil yes or no, big puffy dress or classy elegant...;)?**

**I will reread tomorrow on spelling and grammar mistakes as I always do ^^.**

**x**

**Metope**


	29. Chapter 28

**Lies**

"You're back." Was the first thing Regina heard as she opened her eyes. However, she closed them just as quickly again to keep the bright hospital lights out.

"Daniel." Was all she said, as she would always recognize his voice everywhere.

"And you know who I am again." Daniel answered with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

How was she feeling? Regina didn't quite know if she was honest. Physically she thought she felt rather fine, her back hurt a little, but that could be caused by the not so very comfortable hospital bed she was lying in. Mentally however, she was not okay at all, she felt extremely scared, but it wasn't really something she could talk about with Daniel.

"I'm feeling…fine." She lied. "Daniel?" she continued. "Where is my mother?"

"Cora is out together with your father, getting us lunch, but they have been here sitting with you all three days that you were out." Daniel said calmly.

"I've slept for three days?" Regina asked confused, her eyes still closed.

"Yes. We brought you here because you had an extremely high fever, due to the sudden enormous amount of magic you used in the woods. You do remember that, right?" Daniel added as Regina didn't react.

"I need Cora." Was all she said after a while.

She heard Daniel sigh. "I'll go try to find her. In the meanwhile I'll tell doctor Whale that you've woken up so he can check whether you're okay."

Regina didn't reply and she waited until she heard him leave to open her eyes again.

* * *

"Hi sweetheart." Cora said as she entered the hospital room just as Doctor Whale and a nurse left. "Did Whale say everything is alright?"

Regina turned her head towards her mother and gave her sad smile. "Yes mother." Was all she said.

"Daniel said you wanted to see me?" Cora continued as she grabbed a chair and went to sit next to Regina's bed.

Regina nodded and then blushed. "M- Mother, can you, can you come sit on the bed? I- I want to –" But Regina didn't have to finish her question, for Cora had already stood up from the chair and placed herself next to Regina on the bed as she pulled her daughter in a tight hug. Regina gratefully wrapped her arms around her mother and let out an unsteady breath.

"Now, what is it you wanted to tell me." Cora whispered.

"I'm scared." Regina answered.

"Scared of what dear?" Cora asked, although she knew perfectly well what Regina was scared of.

"Of magic." Her daughter replied.

"Well don't be. You'll be just fine."

"How can you say that? You haven't really seen me when I was the evil queen, I was horrible! I was – and everything was – " Regina started to hyperventilate.

"Regina." Cora said firm as she now took her daughter's face in her hands. "Calm down. There is nothing to worry about. We're all here for you. We love you and we will help you through this. Every time you feel the urge to use magic, you just tell us and we'll help you through it. Just as we did with Emma."

"Emma?" Regina asked after her breathing had calmed down again.

Cora nodded. "She used magic to teleport everyone from New York to Storybrooke with Rumplestiltskin's necklace. So we have helped her the past three days to not use any more magic. For she was having a hard time not doing so."

Regina sighed as she leaned her head against her mother's chest. "But I'm scared anyways…" She whispered.

"Have you, in this short time that you have been awake, felt the urge to use magic?" Cora asked, and smiled as she felt how Regina shook her head.

"Well, then there's nothing to worry about. Because if you would really have been addicted to it again, with the amount of magic you used back there, you should have had the urge to use it again already. You've been out cold for three days Regina. And in those days you haven't used magic, evidently. Your body has almost forgotten again already what it feels like. It's just your mind that has to realize that now."

Regina just smiled as she felt how her mother gave her a tight hug. "You'll be just fine." She whispered to her daughter.

"Where is Violet?" Regina then asked.

"She's been staying with Snow a little longer." Cora answered. "Me, your father and Daniel were here all three days, so that seemed best."

"How is Daniel?" She then asked.

Cora sighed. "He is…confused, I think. He hasn't really talked yet. After all, he still doesn't know anyone in this town well enough to truly call that one his friend. He can be rather...introvert, he doesn't easily seem to talk about what he's feeling."

Regina let out a sad sigh. "I know. I feel horrible that I'm doing all of this to him. If he hadn't met me then…"

"…you both would have been miserable." Cora finished. "You're each other's true loves, without each other you wouldn't be happy at all. So you shouldn't feel sorry for anything. Although having a good talk with him wouldn't hurt."

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_A few days later_

"She's asleep already?" Daniel asked as Regina entered their living room and went to sit on the couch next to him.

"She was out cold almost before I even had put her in her bed." Regina said with a smile. "What are you reading?" She then asked as she saw the book in his hands.

"Oh, just something for work." He answered.

"Good, that's nothing important." Regina said as she snatched the book out of his hand.

"Hey, I was _reading_ that!" Daniel replied as he tried to grab the book back from Regina by throwing himself on her as she held out the book just out of his reach.

"I know." She smiled as she planted a kiss on his nose. "But first, we need to talk."

"O." Daniel said as he moved away from her and went to sit back on the couch again. "What is it you have to tell me then?" He asked.

Regina shook her head. "No, I don't have to tell you anything. It's not about me, it has been about me for the past few months. It's about you this time. I- I want to know how you're feeling after everything that has happened. We didn't really have had the time to talk and…I don't know. Sometimes I think you would have been better off if you hadn't met me. Your life certainly would have been much easier."

Daniel just stared at his fiancé as he silently listened to what she was saying, and as Regina was finished she looked at him, those dark brown orbs of her staring up at him, and he loved her so much in that moment, that he let out a smile of happiness. "O Regina." He sighed as he took her face in his hands and kissed her. "I'm feeling fine." He said as he broke the kiss. "I mean…I was scared to death in that forest and then when you didn't recognize me because of the fever. And I would be lying if I said I wouldn't prefer our life to be a little less…eventful. But the truth is, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm in love with _you_. You are my true love, and if I hadn't met you maybe my life would have had less drama, but would it have been easier? I don't know. I wouldn't have known you, and _you_ make my life easy. You and Violet are what I love most about my life, you must never doubt that." And with that he kissed her again as he slowly pressed her on her back on the couch.

Regina smiled into the kiss, it was a tender kiss at first but it quickly got more intense. "I love you too, Daniel." She whispered in between kisses. "So very much." She added as she started to unbutton his shirt. Just as she had reached the last button, however, they heard the sound of their daughter crying coming through the intercom. Daniel got up with a sigh. "O my god, why does she keep doing that every time?" He asked slightly annoyed. "She hates us." Regina said with a smile and a sigh as she got up from the couch to check on their blonde haired little monster.

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"Hi honey." Regina said as she heard Daniel pick up the phone. "We're on our way home, I think we'll arrive around noon. Everything alright over there?"

"Yes, everything alright." Daniel replied. "Except for the fact that our air conditioning died this morning."

"O my god noo!" He heard Regina exclaim. "But it's like a thousand degrees today!"

"I know, I've already asked if Marco could come to take a look at it, but it seems we're not the only one with the problem. Might take a while, he said. But you could go to the pool? I'll watch Violet."

"Oh that's a good idea. You're such a smart man." She cooed.

"Yes. Yes. Don't push it." Daniel laughed. "But I have to go now, Violet has to take a nap. I love you honey, have a safe continuation of your trip."

It was three days before the wedding and Regina had gone to New York to pick up the friends she had invited for the wedding. Because of the protection spell that was still working, they couldn't come on their own, so it was easier if Regina would just go to pick them up. Everything seemed to go according to plan, accept for said air conditioning that broke down just now a heat wave was ruling in Storybrooke.

Regina and her friends arrived at noon, just as she had said. Quickly she introduced her parents, Daniel, and the Charmings to her agent Elaine and Oliver, Elisa, Rachel, Ethan and….Monica. After they all left for the swimming pool except for Elaine, who has something to take care of first she said.. Initially Regina hadn't wanted to invite Monica, but Daniel had convinced her to not hold a grudge against the girl and to not leave her out of the group. So here Monica was too.

* * *

"So you're the woman that has helped my daughter to get where she is now." Cora said with a smile as she joined Elaine, who was sitting in Regina's court yard with a laptop and a pile of paper next to her.

The woman looked up from her work and smiled. "Yes. That would be me. But don't give me too much credit." Elaine smiled. "Your daughter is extremely talented, if she wouldn't be able to sing this beautiful things could have gone very differently."

Cora smiled. "O but I'm sure those interviews you get for her do help a lot. The magazines are all very positive about her so far, and you make perfectly sure that no negative news comes out."

Elaine frowned at this. "Well yes. I try." She answered. "However it seems this time I failed." And she turned the laptop towards Cora so she could see the screen. "This article will be published tomorrow, I got a preview and..it's not good."

Cora's eyes widened as she read the head of the article, that was saying: _"Regina's success thanks to sleeping with producer."_ and the older woman let out a huff as she read the second bold head saying _"Is fiancé Daniel really the father to her child?"_.

"This is ridiculous. Cora exclaimed. "Who wrote this? It are all lies!"

Elaine sighed. "I know that, you know that, but the audience doesn't. The article states their information comes from a reliable source from within the theatre."

"Well then shouldn't you ask Regina who she thinks has done this?" Cora asked.

"I don't know." Elaine answered. "It's three days until the wedding, I don't want to upset her."

"Well she will be upset anyways when she reads this tomorrow. So it's better to tell her right away." Cora remarked. "It could even be that that source is here right now. We have to find out right away."

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Emma and Snow were sitting under a tree in the grass observing everyone at the pool.

"You know." Emma started. "After all this time, it's still weird to me sometimes to see Regina like that." And she pointed at the brunette who was currently was sitting on Oliver's shoulders desperately trying to win a water fight against Elisa and Ethan.

Snow laughed. "I know. I mean, _I _even am confused sometimes, and at least I knew her for a short time before she changed. You've known her only like the cold mayor so I can imagine how confusing this must be for you."

Emma nodded. "Yes, but still, Henry doesn't seem to have a problem with it."

"That's because Henry has known her longer than you do. And he's just glad she's back. They've become really close friends." Snow said.

Emma let out a laugh as she saw how Elisa successfully managed to let Oliver and Regina crash. "She's so different. So not serious." She sighed as she watched the Regina and Elisa climb out of the pool and fall down on their towels in the grass.

"She sure is." Snow nodded. "But I'm glad she's having fun today. After all, she's only barely twenty years old. We mustn't forget that, her mind is that of a twenty year old, a twenty year old with a baby, a fiancé, a showbiz career and a past that I'm sure will continue to haunt her in her sleep for a while. It's good that she can be like this for once, just be the child she still is."

Emma nodded. "Yes. I admire her. I couldn't have done it when I was her age."

Snow smiled sadly as she grasped Emma's hand. "But you didn't have anyone to help you back then. Regina has all of us, you can't compare that Emma. And I'm incredibly proud of you. The fact that you gave Henry up back then, proves that would you have the same people to support you, you would have done just as well as Regina does."

* * *

When Cora and Elaine arrived at the pool they saw Regina lying on her back in the sun while she was chatting with Elisa. Quickly Cora walked over to her to ask her to come with them.

"What is it?" Regina asked as they had find a place away from the pool where they could talk privately. Quickly Elaine explained about the article that would be published tomorrow and she let Regina read a print she had made of it. Regina's eyes went wide while she was reading the article. "What the _hell_!" She exclaimed when she was done.

"Language, Regina." Cora remarked which caused her an unimpressed glare from Regina.

"These are all lies! And how dare they suggest that Violet is not from Daniel. And - the fact that her hair is a lighter shade of blonde than Daniel's means nothing. Besides they haven't even seen her yet. I don't understand!" Regina raged.

"Well, they're describing her features rather adequately, are you sure you haven't shown anyone a picture of her or something?" Elaine asked.

Regina shook her head. "No, only one of when she had just been born, but she still had her dark hair back then, the one picture I have of her with her blonde hair is in my wallet and..." Regina's voice trailed off as her eyes went wide.

"...the wallet I forgot from the theatre a couple of weeks ago and was found by Monica..." She breathed.

And before either Cora or Elaine could say something Regina turned around and walked back to the pool.

Cora gasped as she saw Regina's back. "Is- Is that a tattoo?" She asked Elaine as she pointed to the small music note that could be seen in the middle of Regina's lower back.

Elaine nodded. "I'd say yes."

Cora pursed her lips into a thin line. "Got to talk to her about that when she comes back." She said annoyed. "Now we better follow her to see where she's gone off too." and with that the two women followed in the direction Regina had gone.

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As Regina made her way towards Monica she first ran into Daniel and her daughter. He walked towards her as soon as he spotted her but Regina just held up her hand. "Not now Daniel." She said and Daniel was taken aback by the rage he saw in his fiancé's eyes. "And you better not show Violet what I'm about to do." She added.

"Regina? What's up?" Emma asked as she saw Regina march past her and Snow in a way that was very closely related to an angry mayor Mills way of walking.

"Not now." Regina growled and as she reached Monica, who was currently talking to Ethan and Elisa she stopped and put a fake smile on her face.

"Monica." She said in her nicest voice. "Could I borrow you for just a second?"

"Is it urgent?" Monica whined. "I was just talk- "

"Yes it is urgent." Regina cut her off. "Now come with me." She said as she walked to a little space of free land on the grass.

As soon as Monica had followed her Regina arched her arm back and then punched the girl in the face as hard as she could. Somewhere in the distance she heard the shocked reactions of the bystanders and her mother's voice exclaiming her name but she didn't care.

"Don't you _ever EVER_ dare to talk such lies about me or my family. EVER." She yelled as she tried to hit Monica again. Monica however had a few moves herself so before Regina knew it she was rolling on the ground with Monica. While they pulled each other's hairs and where screaming.

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Monica screamed.

"Oh yes you do! That little interview you gave, in which you claim that I slept with the producer and that Daniel is not the father of my child, I know all about it, I know it was you who told those lies." Regina yelled back as she avoided a punch of Monica, who was aiming for her face. "And stop trying to hit my face, my wedding is in three days!" Regina screamed.

"Well you should have thought about that before you were accusing me of such things!"

"I know it was you. No one knew my daughter has blonde hair. I have only one picture of her with blonde hair and that's in my wallet. And I haven't shown it to anyone. You're the only one who can have seen it when I lost my wallet and you gave it back to me. So I _know_ you did it!" Regina said.

"Well and so what if I did. You deserve it, you little miss Perfect." Monica spat back as she was hovering over Regina who was now lying on her back.

Regina let out a frustrated grown. "I'm so done with you! What did I ever do to you to deserve this. If you would just focus on your singing and dancing instead of put all that energy in trying to make me feel miserable, you might even become a good singer yourself too!"

For a second Regina thought she was getting through to Monica but the next thing she felt how Monica pressed her elbow hard in Regina's ribcage, causing her to scream out in pain. Before she could do something back though, she felt how two strong arms pulled her away from Monica as Emma was pulling Monica off of Regina.

"Let me go!" Regina screamed. "I'm not done with that imbecile yet."

"Yes you are." She heard the stern voice of David behind her.

"Don't you dare to ever talk about my daughter like that again Monica!" Regina screamed after Monica who just laughed. "Or what?"

"Or I will show them this little vid I just made on which you confess you told all those lies." Emma said as she pulled Monica with her. "Now come with me, party is over for you. I'm taking you to the nearest town where you can find a bus to get yourself home."

*OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT**OUAT*

"This is absolutely unacceptable Regina." Cora exclaimed as she paced up and down in her living room in front of the couch Regina was sitting on. "This is not who you are. It doesn't _suite_ you! Why would you willingly maim your body like that."

Regina huffed. "It only have a few scratches on my arms and a few bruises where she put her elbow in my ribs."

Cora now looked up and stared at her daughter. "I'm not talking about _that_." She spat.

"You're not?" Regina asked genuinely surprised. "I thought you were mad at me for fighting?"

Cora shook her head. "No, no. It was a good thing you stood up for your daughter, it surprised me you didn't just used magic on her."

Regina grinned. "I did get her good. She must at least have a giant black eye."

Cora couldn't help but smirk but then quickly shook her head. "Don't try to change the subject. I'm still mad at you."

"But for what then?" Regina asked.

"For mutilating your body with a tattoo!" Cora exclaimed and Regina couldn't help but burst out in laughing.

"Stop that young lady!" Cora exclaimed.

"I'm sorry mother." Regina said as she tried to suppress the urge to laugh. "It's just. I've just been fighting in the most vulgar way _ever_ and instead of being mad at me for that, you're mad at me for having a tattoo on my back which has been there for 4 years already?"

Cora huffed. "Well, I just don't understand how you could do such a thing. And..." Cora added as she let the meaning of Regina's words get through. "..the people you were living with back then let you have such a horrible thing? For you weren't of age to get it without permission of someone yet?"

Regina shrugged. "I got it after I had ran away from the foster parents I was living with back then. I used a fake ID, and that's how I got it. Two days later the police found me again and I was put back in the system. But _with_ a tattoo." She added triumphantly.

Cora went to sit down next to her daughter at this news. "With how many families have you lived Regina?" She added.

"Well..." Regina started as she avoided looking at Cora by staring at her hands. "The first family I lived with was rather nice, but then the man lost his job and they couldn't support me anymore, so I had to go. Then there was this horrible family who just took me in because they got money out it. They always ignored me, acted like I didn't exist. That's the one I ran away from. Then there was this really nice family and I really liked it there, but then the woman got pregnant again, so I had to go because there wasn't enough room for me anymore. And then there was the fourth family...and the man...he hit me, he never hit his own children, just me, I could never do anything right. But the foster system had said I really should try to stay in this one. So for a while I endured it. But he – He really hurt me, it hurt just as bad, now I think of it, as when you used those ties on me.." Regina stopped talking the moment she realized what she had said, as she looked to her left she saw the tears in her mother's eyes. "O I'm sorry mother. I didn't mean it like that." And she snaked her arms around her mother's waste and leaned her head against her mother's shoulder.

Cora returned the hug but shook her head. "No Regina, I am sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you. I'm not sure if I ever told you that. But I am. I love you so very much and –"

Cora got silenced by Regina who put a hand on her mouth. "It's okay mama." She whispered. "I know that you're sorry. You're nothing like that man in that family. He hit me because he liked it, just for fun. You didn't. You never hit me yourself anyways, you always used magic, which made it better for me somehow..." Regina whispered.

Cora let out a sigh. "Tell me you didn't stay with that family?" She then asked.

Regina shook her head. "No, one night I ran away. I didn't know where to go, so I just lived on the street for a couple of months. Until one night Collin found me lying on a bench in a park, it was winter and I would have undoubtedly frozen to death that night if I would have stayed outside. But thank god Collin found me." Regina finished.

"I'm so sorry, Regina." Was all Cora could say.

"We both are." Regina now heard the voice of her father who entered the living room.

"Daddy." She whispered. "How long have you been here?"

"I just came home." Henry said. "But I didn't want to interrupt your moment, so I waited outside for a while."

Cora smiled and Regina patted on the couch next to her. "Come sit daddy." She said, and Henry did as he was told she gave him a hug. "I love you daddy." She said. "I love both of you so very much. And I'm also really glad that you're together again." This caused her parents to choke and Cora let out a nervous laugh.

"What?" Regina asked confused as she pulled away from her father. "I saw you kissing. And you're living in the same house. To me that's back together."

Cora just laughed at the naivety of her daughter. Sometimes she was so grown up and then a second later she was her little girl again. "I love you." She said as she stroked her daughter's cheek.

Regina smiled. "So you're not mad about the tattoo anymore?"

"O that I still am." Cora said as she got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen.

"What's a tattoo?" Henry asked confused at which Regina got up from the couch too.

"Yeahh...so I should probably go now. I think I have a lot to explain to Daniel about what happened at the pool. So, bye." And before Cora could call her daughter back she ran out of the house. One lecture about her tattoo was enough, Regina thought.

**Ok, so this is like the most ridiculous chapter ever, but I just had to write it. See it as a filler, for the next chapter is about the actual wedding and I couldn't just hop to that from the last chapter.**

**Read and Review please **

**x**

**Metope**


	30. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: Song used: A Thousand Years by Christina Perri I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING :)**

**I do**

Regina nervously watched herself in the mirror as she put in her earrings.

"You look beautiful Regina, don't worry." Ashley said with a smile as she put on the heels that went with her bridesmaid's dress. Regina turned around to face the blonde.

"I feel so nervous. I don't understand why. It's not like I'm not sure about Daniel or something." She said.

Ashley walked over to Regina and took her hands in hers. "It's perfectly normal to feel nervous at your wedding day." She said with a smile. "I felt like I was dying on mine. I think you're still handling it pretty well up until now. Don't worry, when you'll walk down the aisle all worries and doubts will disappear and it will just feel right."

Regina nodded. "It all just seems too good to be true. I mean..we've waited so long for this, and so much has happened. I'm half expecting someone to barge in and ruin everything."

"Believe me Regina. You sure have had your deal of crap, you deserve this, nothing will go wrong, I'll make sure of that if I'll have to." Ruby now said not looking up from her phone. She had been sitting in a chair with her bridesmaid's dress on texting for the last fifteen minutes.

"Thanks Ruby." Regina smiled. "Who are you texting with?" She then asked.

"That Ethan boy you brought here for the wedding. He's pretty cute."

"You're horrible." Ashley stated, effectively avoiding a pillow that was thrown her way by Ruby in response. "But seriously Regina." Ashley continued. "There is nothing to be worried about. Gold is locked up safely behind bars, Collin and his father are far away, your mother has changed into one of the people who support this marriage the most, and I don't think we will see this Monica here any time soon. All your demons are either gone or taken care of. Nothing stands your happiness in the way anymore."

Regina smiled as she hugged Ashley thankfully, the blonde's words really helped her to put things back in perspective again.

"And, are you ready dear?" Cora now asked as she and Henry entered Regina's bedroom. They had decided to get married in Regina's beautiful garden under the apple tree she had spent so much time with Daniel back in their land that now was growing behind the house.

"I guess I am." Regina said as she let out a shaking breath. "You look beautiful dear. Everything is ready if you are." Cora answered as she pulled Regina in for a hug.

"Ok. Then let's do this." Ruby said as she jumped up from her chair.

* * *

As the music started to play Daniel was having a really hard time trying not to turn around to look at Regina walking down the aisle. The bridegroom was not supposed to do so, but Henry, who was his best man could – and was very proud to be so as he felt really important and grown up - and his whispering that Regina looked absolutely amazing didn't help. But when Regina finally stood next to him under the apple tree as her father let her go and he looked to his right he saw Henry was right. She looked stunning. She wore a dress that was a soft tone of off-white, several silk leafs and flowers formed the top of the dress and were held together by tulle that went over her right shoulder. The leafs eventually fused into the skirt of the dress that fell narrowly down her legs hugging her every curve, a split started halfway the thigh of her left leg revealing simple white stilettos. Her dark curls were loosely falling down her back, only a few strands of hair were pulled back from her face with a small white flower in the same color of her dress. Her lips where a bright classy shade of red and Daniel just wanted to kiss those lips right there in that moment.

He gave Regina a reassuring smile as she put her hand in his and he felt how her hand was slightly trembling. When it was time to speak their wedding vows it first was his turn.

"My dearest Regina, " he started. "if I'm honest, I still can't believe I am standing here with you today here, on our wedding day. There most definitely were some bumps in the road to this day but yet here I am, with you. And after all this time I still love you just as much as I did when I first fell in love with you all these many, many, _many_ years ago. I might even love you more now; everything that has happened to us, it brought us closer in the end. And now we have a child together, you gave me the most beautiful daughter I could wish and everyday again I'm so grateful that I can form a family with the two of you. And I am so very happy that after all this time you still want to become my wife. I don't know why or how I deserved this but I promise you that I will try to be to you and our daughter everything that you need me to be….because I love you…You mean everything to me and I am never leaving you alone again."

From the corner of his eye he could see how Snow was desperately trying to find a tissue in her purse while tears were ruining her make-up and when he looked back at Regina again he saw she had tears in her eyes too while she also wore the brightest smile he had ever seen from her.

Regina cleared her throat and let out a small laugh. "Well," She said as she looked down at their hands and fingers that were still intertwined. "I don't know if I'll still be able to give you my weddings vows as well as I wanted to after this. But I'll try." And he felt how she took her hands out of his and set a step back. He saw her chest rise as she took in a deep breath and then softly started to sing while there was complete silence around her.

_"_

Daniel instantly felt tears appear in his eyes as he listened to how she beautifully sang the words to him. When she started the third couplet he suddenly heard the sound of an acoustic guitar coming from behind Regina and as he looked up he saw Oliver had started to accompany her on his guitar.

"_…"_

When Regina had finished Daniel saw how Snow was once again searching for a tissue, David, this time prepared, handed her one and she thankfully took it. Daniel was having a hard time keeping the tears at bay himself too, the words of the song seemed to fit so well to their situation, and she had sung it to him so beautifully with so much love and feeling.

Daniel now turned to Henry who handed him the rings and with trembling hands he put the ring on her finger saying the words everyone knew were said at this moment but suddenly seemed so hard for him to remember. After both rings were exchanged Daniel was finally given the green light to kiss his bride and so he did. Gently he cupped her face with his hands and brought her head closer to his after which he locked their lips in a passionate kiss under the loud cheering of their audience.

When they broke their kiss and turned around, Daniel still having his arms around Regina, they saw how Cora now carried their daughter towards them. The little girl smiled as she recognized her parents and Regina happily took the child from her mother and hugged her.

They were complete. She finally had her happy ending.

_Fin_

* * *

**O my god I so didn't plan on ending this story here, but it just felt so right, and I didn't know what to add and..as I said this just felt right. But don't worry, I already started another StableQueen fanfiction yesterday; The witch, the daughter and the stable boy. So you can just start reading that one to get your daily dose of stablequeen ****. And if you're all really really really upset about this story ending here, maybe there should be a sequel but then you should tell me what it has to be about..I feel like this story has been told though.**

**Let me know what you think ****.**

**x**

**Metope, hope to see you around ;).**


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